Despite a revolving door of mediocre quarterbacks, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens saw significant improvement last season from his 2022 rookie campaign.
Now, with the Steelers trying to upgrade that quarterback position, will fantasy managers reap big rewards for having Pickens on their team this upcoming season?
Here is the fantasy outlook for Pickens heading into this season.
George Pickens’ Fantasy Profile for the 2024 NFL Season
Pickens had to deal with a revolving door of less-than-impressive quarterbacks last season, from Kenny Pickett to Mitch Trubisky to Mason Rudolph. And despite all of that, Pickens still managed to have 1,140 receiving yards in 2023, increasing his receiving yards per game average by 20 yards from his rookie season (47.1 to 67.1).
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Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Pickens’ 2023 season is that despite dealing with mediocrity at the quarterback position, he led the NFL in yards per reception, averaging 18.1 a catch. Although he finished with only five touchdown receptions last season, all five went at least 20 yards, with four of the five scores covering 40 or more yards.
In fact, if you look at Pickens’ nine career touchdown receptions, seven of them were at least 20 yards.
There was some inconsistency in his game, however. After producing a pair of huge receiving games in weeks 15 and 16 — combined 326 receiving yards — Pickens was not targeted once in the Steelers’ Week 17 win over the Baltimore Ravens, despite being on the field for over 80% of the team’s offensive snaps.
Pickens is also not the most consistent pass catcher in the league. His catch percentage last season was less than 60% (59.4%), which was actually down from his rookie season (61.9%).
Is Pickens a Good Fantasy Pick?
Pickens checks in as the WR33 in Pro Football Network’s Consensus Fantasy Football Rankings. He is the only Steeler ranked in the top 80 among wide receivers.
No matter who wins the starting quarterback battle between Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, they figure to be an upgrade over what Pittsburgh dealt with last season. Perhaps even more notable, the Matt Canada era is over in Pittsburgh as former Atlanta Falcons head coach Arthur Smith takes over as offensive coordinator.
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This all figures to be good news for fantasy managers interested in selecting Pickens in their fantasy draft. He led the team in targets last season by a wide margin (106, next closest was Diontae Johnson at 87), and with a new quarterback and new offensive coordinator, it’s difficult to imagine Pickens regressing in Year 3.
The Steelers do like to use their running backs as pass catchers, and they have a quality tight end in Pat Freiermuth. But there is no other wide receiver on this roster that fantasy managers will have to worry about stealing targets from Pickens.
Pickens seems like a tremendous value for a mid-round selection.