When wide receiver George Pickens came out of Georgia, he was the most talented player in the world. Big and long, with incredible body control, concentration and hands. When you think of Pickens, you think of the big games. But his development into a more versatile and better receiver is in the details. Particularly his yards after the catch, YAC. That’s one area of his game that has improved since his rookie year, becoming more than just a vertical threat. The improvement after the catch was something we saw right after the draft.
As a rookie, Pickens was the NFL’s worst YAC receiver. As a sophomore, Pickens ranked in the top 10 in catches. Heading into his pivotal third season, Pickens continues to make progress, and that’s clear when you look at three of his four preseason catches.
Two of them came in the opening game against the Houston Texans. A curl and a screen. On both, Pickens spun forward, broke a tackle and got some serious YAC. Nine yards on his first catch, 13 on his second. Those are things he didn’t do in his rookie year, partly because he wasn’t even asked to run those routes, but partly because he wasn’t fast enough going forward.
The 32-yard catch on Saturday against the Seahawks showed it in a different way. The first down alone on 3rd and 11 was great, Pickens ran a good route to get free and catch the ball on the sideline. But what Pickens did was just as impressive after the catch. He easily could have gone out of bounds right after the catch and still gained 20+ yards and a conversion. But he stayed in bounds, turned forward, and gained *nine* yards after the catch.
This is where Pickens made the catch.
And here he was attacked.
That’s another 9 yards, almost a first down, that he managed. He didn’t cross the field or jump unnecessarily, which has happened to him repeatedly throughout his career. Two plays later, RB Cordarrelle Patterson brings the ball into the end zone.
Compare that to his rookie year. It’s hard to find identical examples or situations, but two moments stand out. The second half of the blowout win over the Buffalo Bills. Against off coverage, Pickens makes the uncontested catch, but he’s slow to come forward. He dances around horizontally, costing himself extra yards. Eventually he gets forward and fights his way forward, but he wasn’t “quick to the ball,” as old WRs coach Scottie Montgomery would say. He doesn’t come forward after the catch.
An even better example against Miami later in the year. Pickens runs at high speed to the sideline. It’s a catch along the sideline and there isn’t much runway, but Pickens calmly goes out of bounds. It’s a first down, not a bad play, but there was no attempt to turn around and come forward to pick up all the green grass in front of him.
Compare that to yesterday’s Lions game. Pickens could have gone out of bounds again, but he turned forward. That’s exactly how they repeated it in training camp. It’s a drill that has to be followed to the letter. In training camp, wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni had the guys run the routes in the air and remind them or get them to “get up” after each catch. Even if the pass put them out of bounds, the coaching point remained the same. Go forward and finish the game. Pickens shows this.
Here is a compilation of all the above examples of similar games played side by side. You can see the difference.
The vertical win remains Pickens’ trademark. That’s the prelude to his peaks. But he had so much more potential than that. He was more versatile, could line up all over the field, improve his YAC, and become a better route runner (that part is still a work in progress, but there’s movement here). If he keeps this up, Pickens will be one of the top 10 receivers in football. Possibly as early as the end of this season.
