PITTSBURGH — The Steelers have an alien in their building every day. His name is George Pickens, and each day at practice, he does something that blows everyone’s minds at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. Pickens has done it a few times in games, too, but last Monday night proved to be the first time he took his game to the next level. No longer was he just a highlight-reel contested catch player.
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Pickens took his game over the middle of the field, proved he had a significant extra gear in his step, and is starting to flash some nuanced route running that was not there last year. That led Pickens to his best receiving day of his career, with over 100-yard receiving yards.
With Diontae Johnson sidelined for at least a month, Pickens was due to see an increased role. He delivered a career-high 127-yard performance highlighted by an exhilarating 71-yard catch and run for a score in the second quarter. Perhaps more exciting than anything, Pickens was making plays all over the field and not just on go-balls down the sideline.
He’s already displaying more effectiveness after the catch, something that he needed to improve on. George Pickens looks like a potential star, and the Steelers might need him to morph into one sooner rather than later to jumpstart this struggling offense. But with ten targets against the Raiders, Kenny Pickett and Matt Canada want to get him involved even more.
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