Fittipaldo On George Pickens: ‘I’m Not Convinced That He’s Viewed Around The League As A No. 1 Receiver’

George Pickens is by far the best wide receiver on the Pittsburgh Steelers roster, and there’s no room for debate. Nobody else that they have is even close to his level of talent or ability or even production. But while he is the Steelers’ lead weapon, how does he compare to others around the league? Does he stack up favorably after his first two NFL seasons? Ray Fittipaldo questions whether he merits that discussion at this point in his career.

“He’s the Steelers’ No. 1 receiver, but I’m not convinced that he’s viewed around the league as a No. 1 receiver”, he said of Pickens on 93.7 The Fan on Wednesday. “He had over 1,100 yards last year—it was a good season. But a lot of that came with big plays late in the season. I just think people on the national level want to see more consistency”.

Through two seasons, George Pickens has 115 receptions for 1,941 yards and nine touchdowns. Last season, he caught 63 passes for 1,140 yards and 5 touchdowns. He also led the NFL with 18.1 yards per catch, thanks to a late surge—part of Fittipaldo’s point.

“Can you be a guy who goes out there every single week and gets five, six, seven catches, between 80-120 [yards] every single week? That consistency is probably the thing that’s holding him back”, he said of Pickens. “I think he’s a guy who is still developing. And honestly, leadership, maturity, all of those things play into your image around the league. And I think that’s probably an issue with some people out there, as well”.

Let’s provide some perspective on Pickens’ output last season, particularly relative to the production league-wide. His 63 receptions ranked 50th in the NFL in 2023, though, to be fair, he was never a volume guy. However, 34 players caught more touchdowns, among 52 who caught at least five. His best quantitative stat is his yardage, ranking 16th in the league, one of 28 players in quadruple digits.

However, Pickens also had the second-lowest success rate among players in the top 20 in receiving yards. He only produced a successful play for the offense on 50.9 percent of his receptions, which is more concerning for a player who isn’t a possession receiver. And we can’t forget about the fact that he fumbled three times.

Then he fumbled a fourth time in the postseason, which the Steelers lost, a critical blunder. Pickens caught just five passes for 50 yards in that game after receiving no targets the previous week. And that’s when we go back to the consistency discussion.

While he recorded five 100-yard games in 2023, Pickens also had five games with 25 yards or fewer. He even had a game in which he recorded minus-one yard on five targets. I think it’s fair to question how many wide receivers viewed around the league as “No. 1” guys have this many games of that nature. That doesn’t mean he won’t break out in 2024, but it may be premature to suggest he already has. And we have Matt Canada and Kenny Pickett to share the blame for that, which we can’t overlook, either.