George Pickens hauls in 33-yard TD from Kenny Pickett in preseason opener
Pittsburgh Steelers receiver George Pickens wasted no time making an impact during his team’s preseason opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Friday.
On the Steelers’ opening drive from Raymond James Stadium, Pickens hauled in a 33-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Kenny Pickett to give Pittsburgh a 6-0 lead.
Pickens’ touchdown grab capped off a masterful 10-play, 83-yard drive from the Steelers’ first-string offense — albeit against the Buccaneers’ second-string defense. Still, it’s precisely what head coach Mike Tomlin wanted to see from his offense in one series of work, and exactly what Pickens promised the offense would look like in 2023.
The former Georgia standout said last month he expects the offense to be more vertical this season, a welcome change from what was a mostly stagnant offense last season.
With Pickett under center in 2022 (12 starts), the Steelers ranked 32nd in the NFL in passing yards per attempt. Additionally, Pickett sat 32nd in the league in passer rating and dead last in touchdown-to-interception ratio (among 33 qualified quarterbacks).
“That’s more of an explosive hint,” Pickens said. “Like, we’re gonna probably take more shots this year. Try to mix it up a little bit.”
It certainly was there on the pair’s first touchdown connection of the season, as was Pickens’ route running to create separation, which Pickett complimented this offseason.
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“He’s definitely worked on his routes,” Pickett recently said. “The full route tree he has, the crispness with his routes. He’s locked in mentally. He’s doing a good job learning the system and playing different spots, so we can move him around more, which is great.”
George Pickens explains why he’s the best receiver in the world
In 17 games during his rookie campaign, Pickens hauled in 52 receptions for 801 yards — an average of 15.4 yards per reception to lead all Steelers pass-catchers. After one season in the NFL, Pickens believes he’s the gold standard at the wideout position.
“The stuff that I do, bro, I feel like I’m the best in the whole world,” Pickens recently told Kevin Clark of The Ringer. “I’m big, I’m fast, low 4.4 [speed]. Catch radius is crazy. So every time I get out on the field, I do kind of play angry because I should get the ball on every play if you just look at the size and the frame. If I was a coach, I’d just throw to him every time. But that’s not how the NFL works.
“So every time I’m out there, that’s why I throw the blocks. I love getting the ball, and when I’m not getting the ball, I play angry so the attention is back on me. I basically draw attention to myself.”