George Pickens will officially not play against the Baltimore Ravens this week, and that’s an unlucky replace for the Pittsburgh Steelers. With Pickens out, their offense has been abysmal. That lack of explosiveness has robbed them of their enamel. Their different receivers could make performs, however nobody is Pickens. Due to that, former NFL offensive lineman Kyle Lengthy believes Russell Wilson might want to have good accuracy to present the Steelers an opportunity.
“Russell Wilson offers George Pickens an opportunity, and he might come down with the soccer,” Lengthy stated Thursday on his podcast, Pushing the Pile. “With these different playmakers on the offensive facet for the Steelers, it’s a must to be damn-near good as a quarterback. You not solely must make the suitable learn, however you gotta put that ball precisely the place it’s presupposed to be.”
Lengthy makes a great level. Wilson can throw contested balls to Pickens all day, and more often than not, Pickens will make the catch. He makes the unimaginable doable. That’s a blessing and a curse for the Steelers’ offense. With him out of the lineup, their offense turns into dysfunctional. Nobody else can do what Pickens does.
The Steelers tried to get out in entrance of this drawback by trading for Mike Williams. Whereas he isn’t the identical participant he as soon as was, Williams nonetheless has an enormous body that ought to enable him to make contested catches like Pickens. Nevertheless, outdoors of some performs, he’s been invisible on the sphere.
Calvin Austin III is a downfield risk, however he’s a smaller receiver that wins with pace. Comparable issues could possibly be stated about Scotty Miller, though he made a Pickens-esque catch just a few weeks in the past. Van Jefferson hasn’t been an enormous issue within the cross recreation both. With that group, Wilson does should be extra correct. There’s far much less of an opportunity they provide you with the 50-50 balls he throws to Pickens.
Sadly, that has turn out to be a key element of the Steelers’ offense. They begin gradual, however often, they handle to hit a deep shot down the sphere to get going. They hit a kind of towards the Philadelphia Eagles, but it surely got here on a trick play. Defenses will likely be extra ready for that.
This subsequent recreation is one the place the Steelers actually might’ve used Pickens, too. The Baltimore Ravens are coming for the AFC North crown, and in the event that they beat the Steelers this week, the door will likely be large open for them. Final time these two groups performed, Pickens put up eight catches for 89 yards. Somebody might want to substitute that manufacturing. It would fall on Wilson’s shoulders to get his receivers going.
