Steeler George Pickens ranks among top outside receivers

Our friends over at Touchdown Wire put out their list of the best 12 outside wide receivers in the NFL. When we checked out the list, to be honest, we did not expect to see any Pittsburgh Steelers on it. But lo and behold, there’s George Pickens checking in at No. 10.

Here’s what they had to say about Pickens:

2022 marked Matt Canada’s second season as the Steelers’ offensive coordinator and Kenny Pickett’s first as the Steelers quarterback. And throughout last season, the only thing that really scared anybody about that passing game was the specter of rookie George Pickens, who Pittsburgh selected with the 52nd pick in the 2022 draft out of Georgia, nuking this or that poor cornerback on a go route from the outside left or outside right. In an offense that was known far more for short stuff, Pickens managed 11 catches on passes of 20 or more air yards from the outside on just 20 targets for 342 yards, 293 air yards, and no touchdowns. Perhaps Pickett will unlock more deep-ball acumen in his second season to make the Pickett-to-Pickens combo even more dangerous; their rookie seasons together saw Pickens carrying most of the load.

When you talk about NFL players the idea of a ceiling comes up a lot. Just based on what we saw last season, I’m not sure just how high Pickens’ really is. Without getting too hyperbolic, Pickens definitely has traits similar to players like Randy Moss and AJ Green. Whether or not he can get to that level remains to be seen.