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George Pickens

What to do with erratic talent

The Steelers have long had success drafting talented wide receivers, with Antonio Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Diontae Johnson among the top 10 wideouts (PPR) they've drafted in the last 15 years. Problem is that George Pickens seems to be melting down like the best of those players even before reaching those heights.

Despite working with mostly lesser quarterbacks, Pickens in his first three seasons averages 58 catches for 947 yards, with 12 touchdowns. His 18.1 yards per catch a year ago led the league.

But despite arguably having his best quarterback this season in Russell Wilson (not what he used to be, but probably still better than Kenny Pickett, Mitchell Trubisky or Mason Rudolph), Pickens has had a pretty lousy season. He's gone over 80 receiving yards five times, but has caught just 3 touchdowns all year. Six times (including each of the last three) he's caught only 1-3 passes. With the team needing him most down the stretch, his most noteworthy contributions have been jawing with fans, complaining to officials and dropping passes.

It's the catch rate that has been particularly disappointing. Over the last three years, among all receivers to average at least 50 receptions, no one has a better yards per catch than Pickens (16.3). But only four of those 42 players have caught a lower percentage of the balls thrown their way (59.4 percent).

Poor quarterbacking is certainly an issue, as some of the other players near the bottom (including another Steeler, Diontae, and a couple of players with Jets and Browns ties) have had to deal with lesser passers.

But Pickens' quarterbacking won't necessarily get any better anytime soon, and his recent on-field outbursts suggest he won't be handling it particularly well going forward.

Pickens caught 8 for 89 in his long game against this week's opponent, Baltimore, this season. Maybe on the big stage of the playoffs, he'll come up with another such game (the Ravens were a lot worse defending the pass than the run this year).

But I'm not very confident it will be happening. His better games (including that Week 11 contest) were a little while back. I expect Pickens and the Steelers to go fairly quietly into the offseason this weekend.

Table shows wide receivers to catch at least 150 passes the last three seasons, sorted by catch rate. Data compiled using the search tools at pro-football-reference.com.

WIDE RECEIVER CATCH RATES, 2022-2024 (50 CATCH/SEASON)
PlayerGTgtRecYdsAvgTDCtch%
Amon-Ra St. Brown49451340393911.62875.4
DeVonta Smith46337244309512.72272.4
Adam Thielen44306221234510.61572.2
Chris Godwin39334237262311.11071.0
Jaxon Smith-Njigba34230163175810.81070.9
Wan'Dale Robinson3824917614518.2570.7
CeeDee Lamb49489343430212.52770.1
Stefon Diggs41378262310811.92269.3
Ja'Marr Chase45454314397012.63369.2
Puka Nacua28266184247613.5969.2
Tyler Boyd49237164181911.1769.2
Tyreek Hill50464319446814.02668.8
Cooper Kupp33293201225911.21768.6
Curtis Samuel4722915715229.7968.6
Justin Jefferson44438299441614.82368.3
Jakobi Meyers45331225263811.71868.0
Michael Pittman Jr.48408277288510.41167.9
Keenan Allen38360244273911.21867.8
Tyler Lockett50313212252711.91667.7
Nico Collins37274185278415.01767.5
Jaylen Waddle46304205311415.21467.4
Zay Flowers33224151191712.7967.4
Brandon Aiyuk40266178273115.31566.9
A.J. Brown47400261403115.42565.3
D.J. Moore51394257321812.52165.2
Terry McLaurin51369238328913.82264.5
Tee Higgins40294189259613.72264.3
Jerry Jeudy48332211295914.01263.6
Chris Olave39301191256513.41063.5
Christian Kirk37265168227413.51263.4
Deebo Samuel43264167219413.11263.3
Drake London50385241304212.61562.6
DeAndre Hopkins42313195238412.21562.3
Mike Evans46373230338314.73061.7
Courtland Sutton48334204268213.12061.1
D.K. Metcalf48368222315414.21960.3
Garrett Wilson51469279324911.61459.5
George Pickens48293174284116.31259.4
Davante Adams48496288372312.93058.1
Elijah Moore50271157162410.3457.9
Diontae Johnson42301170197411.6856.5
Amari Cooper46345194295715.21856.2

--Andy Richardson

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