George Pickens, where did we go wrong?

[murphysxm]

I still can't get the replay of him jumping out of the way instead of blocking for his teammate at the goal line. Yes he has talent, but I don't think his play has given him the rope to act like he is better than the team. Locker rooms always see that.

[Cameron Giles]

Right now, I think he's more likely to be a Mike Wallace or Mike Williams type of player than a tier above that. I'm just not seeing the skills or intangibles for any form of reliability.

[j4pac]

In b4 Pickens disappears for the rest of the season

[FantasyFreak]

Pushing 1200 yards with 3 different QB's, as a 22 year old. Pretty good year 2 growth, I'd say. Tomlin is a really good coach. He could have handled things differently on that blocking play, and a lot of coaches would have. Pickens with 2 big games after it.

[hankmurphy]

Who would have thought Mason Rudolph was the droid we were looking for?

After seeing what he can do with a QB that can get him the ball it’s clear that Pickens is going to enter his third season as the alpha WR in this offense. His trajectory has been obfuscated by offensive struggles and media drama, but it’s looking like Pickens is going to be a bonafide stud.

[Anteaters]

Drafing Pickens in 2022 will help me look smart, even if I drafted QJ in 2023.

Pickens is on his way to being a consistent T15WR in fantasy year end stats. T10WR in dynasty ranking. He's the real deal.

EDIT: Corrected QB to QJ

[Pac_Eddy]

Drafing Pickens in 2022 will help me look smart, even if I drafted QB in 2023.

Pickens is on his way to being a consistent T15WR in fantasy year end stats. T10WR in dynasty ranking. He's the real deal.

I'm now officially excited about Pickens. Feels like it's been a long wait for the Steeler to start using him correctly. As long as they don't go into 2024 with Pickett at QB, that is. Which is probably the most likely scenario. Ok, now I'm down on Pickens again.

[Anteaters]

Drafing Pickens in 2022 will help me look smart, even if I drafted QB in 2023.

Pickens is on his way to being a consistent T15WR in fantasy year end stats. T10WR in dynasty ranking. He's the real deal.

I'm now officially excited about Pickens. Feels like it's been a long wait for the Steeler to start using him correctly. As long as they don't go into 2024 with Pickett at QB, that is. Which is probably the most likely scenario. Ok, now I'm down on Pickens again.

Oops. I meant QJ - Quentin Johnston
Fortunately I didn't draft Pickett

I think the Steelers will move on from Pickett ... if they can do it without giving up a lot of draft capital. Even if it means adding someone like Russ Wilson. I find it difficult to believe they'd go for such an older stop-gap player, but I think Pickett has expended all the coach's/GM's/owner's patience. Pickett just doesn't look like the guy.

Carr would have been a better replacement if they had decided to move on from Pickett last offseason. Besides Russ, I'm not sure who would be a good choice/fit this offseason. Maybe Kyler if he's made available.

[gmoftheyear]

Who would have thought Mason Rudolph was the droid we were looking for?

After seeing what he can do with a QB that can get him the ball it’s clear that Pickens is going to enter his third season as the alpha WR in this offense. His trajectory has been obfuscated by offensive struggles and media drama, but it’s looking like Pickens is going to be a bonafide stud.

I actually drafted Rudolph in 2018 and held him for a few years waiting for him to get his opportunity. But Big Ben held on and then they drafted Pickett so Mason kind of got pushed to the back but Rudolph has a big arm and a big frame and has looked good. Some QBs just need time on the bench to learn the game. I swooped back in last week and got him off my waiver wire and am hoping he gets another look from the Steelers or maybe he gets a shot somewhere else next year. Worth a dart throw for sure.

[Jigga94]

Did not think I'd see a serious post about stashing Mason Rudolph, but any QB with a pulse in SF I guess

[cazzie33]

Pickens needed to escape from Canada

[Anteaters]

So Pickens was generally seen as a 2nd round fantasy prospect. How did this happen? I’m trading a mid/early 23 first for him, because I’m all in.

Thinking about Pickens lately and decided to cross post to expand in the Pickens Appreciation Thread.

I predict that by this time next year, a lot of managers will be complaining about how hard it is to acquire Pickens without a huge overpay. I really think Pickens is going to make a climb up the rankings similar to recent ones by AJB, Lamb and ARSB over the past season or two. Don't wait until AFTER Pickens makes the leap to try to acquire him. Make an offer today at an overpay for today's value ... 12months from now, that "overpay" you pay today will be half the price Pickens will cost then.

Pickens 2022: 82 TAR, 52 REC, 801 YDS, 4 TDs
Pickens 2023: 106 TAR, 63 REC, 1140 YDS, 5 TDs

Based on the escalation in his production from his rookie season to his second season, AND based on the trade of Diontae away from Pittsburgh, AND based on a huge improvement at QB, I predict what's quoted above.

This was something that came to mind last week in a thread where a guy wanted a Top4 or Top6 WR. He was complaining/commenting how the price was too high. I mentioned that maybe he should try to acquire a WR currently ranked lower whose price would be significantly less expensive. I mentioned a couple of other guys, but George Pickens is definitely a WR to target with an overpay based on his current value.

Yeah, there's risk associated with making a trade based on predicting a player will improve. IMO, that's just the cost to play the game. Either we pay a king's ransom for a guy who is already on top of the mountain, or we pay a good fair price today for a guy we hope makes that next climb to the top 6. I think Pickens is a guy worth paying the price others have for guys ranked between his current value and the T6WRs today.

It boggles my mind that WRs like JSN/Addison/Flowers/Reed/Higgins/Rice/DJM are ranked as more valuable than Pickens. They're good but I think Pickens will out produce all of them going forward.

Anyone agree? Disagree?

[Bronco Billy]

Where do you guys get your production rankings from? This is a regularly occurring event here it seems. We run a normal 1.0 ppr for WRs in our league and last season he was WR30 last season in ppg. That’s hardly victory lap territory for a guy whose adp was around 1.10 +/- his rookie year.

We saw the same kind of promotion from the Ridley proponents. I wonder how many FFers benefitted in the playoffs with Pickens’ big week 16 when he was WR60 from weeks 9-15?

[Pac_Eddy]

I think the Steelers will move on from Pickett ... if they can do it without giving up a lot of draft capital. Even if it means adding someone like Russ Wilson. I find it difficult to believe they'd go for such an older stop-gap player, but I think Pickett has expended all the coach's/GM's/owner's patience. Pickett just doesn't look like the guy.

Dude, you nailed this prediction. You're king for the day!

[CGW]

Thinking about Pickens and decided to cross post to expand in the Pickens Appreciation Thread.

I predict that by this time next year, a lot of managers will be complaining about how hard it is to acquire Pickens without a huge overpay. I really think Pickens is going to make a climb up the rankings similar to recent ones by AJB, Lamb and ARSB over the past season or two. Don't wait until AFTER Pickens makes the leap to try to acquire him. Make an offer today at an overpay for today's value ... 12months from now, that "overpay" you pay today will be half the price Pickens will cost then.

Pickens 2022: 82 TAR, 52 REC, 801 YDS, 4 TDs
Pickens 2023: 106 TAR, 63 REC, 1140 YDS, 5 TDs

Based on the escalation in his production from his rookie season to his second season, AND based on the trade of Diontae away from Pittsburgh, AND based on a huge improvement at QB, I predict what's quoted above.

This was something that came to mind last week in a thread where a guy wanted a Top4 or Top6 WR. He was complaining/commenting how the price was too high. I mentioned that maybe he should try to acquire a WR currently ranked lower whose price would be significantly less expensive. I mentioned a couple of other guys, but George Pickens is definitely a WR to target with an overpay based on his current value.

Yeah, there's risk associated with making a trade based on predicting a player will improve. IMO, that's just the cost to play the game. Either we pay a king's ransom for a guy who is already on top of the mountain, or we pay a good fair price today for a guy we hope makes that next climb to the top 6. I think Pickens is a guy worth paying the price others have for guys ranked between his current value and the T6WRs today.

It boggles my mind that WRs like JSN/Addison/Flowers/Reed/Higgins/Rice/DJM are ranked as more valuable than Pickens. They're good but I think Pickens will out produce all of them going forward.

I'd love to hear others' opinions on the future must-have WR, George Pickens.

I don't disagree that he is a good target for this off-season. Skillset seems to match up with what Russ has done historically and until they add another WR or two, he's the only show in town. Someone has to get the targets. If he could knock out the wild inconsistency week to week in his effort level, he could absolutely make a big leap.

Where we differ is with his valuation amongst those other WRs. I don't find it mind boggling that people prefer these guys over Pickens. Every one of them has either produced at a similar/higher level or shown flashes of talent to do so. It's just a big group of very similarly valued WRs. Personally, I take Flowers, Rice, and DJM over Pickens. These guys are attached to Lamar, Mahomes, and Williams(likely) and I prefer their skillsets to Pickens.

If I have to "overpay", I'd also be looking at Smith, Waddle, and Aiyuk. Those three are consistently undervalued because they are "just #2s" on their teams and I bet they could be had for similar price to Pickens.