We're not even halfway through the 2025 season, and already, Pittsburgh Steelers fans are regretting the trade of George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys. The Steelers' 2022 second-round pick found new life in Dallas after an inconsistent season, and he's on track for career numbers.
However, the latest stat could see the talented receiver's production plummet back down to earth.
Early in the season, fellow Cowboys wide receiver and NFL All-Pro CeeDee Lamb has missed significant time with a high ankle sprain. And while Lamb was absent, Pickens feasted.
But here's the kicker: if you prorate Pickens' production over the course of the season in games that Lamb has been absent, he would be on pace for 149 targets, 102 receptions, 1815 yards, and 18 touchdowns. These wouldn't just be career numbers for Pickens; they would fetch him All-Pro honors and likely votes as the Offensive Player of the Year.
Unfortunately for Pickens, it's a different story when Lamb is playing.
If you prorate Pickens' 2025 season production when Lamb is on the field, he would finish the year with 108 targets, 68 receptions, 975 yards, and 6 touchdowns. This presents a stark difference in splits with and without Lamb. And it could only lead to trouble.
The Pittsburgh Steelers could still get the last laugh after trading George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys
While everything seems to be all sunshine and rainbows for Pickens in Dallas, we need to remember that the young wide receiver is just seven games into his first season on his new team. Things started well for Pickens in Pittsburgh, but they slowly began to spiral out of control as well.
If Lamb stays healthy the rest of the way, Pickens is bound to see his production dip. In the three full games that Lamb and Pickens have played together this season, the ex-Steelers receiver has been outpaced by Lamb in targets 19 to 32. In these games, Lamb has averaged 111 receiving yards per game, while Pickens is managing just 60 yards per game.
Interestingly, Pickens' 60 yards per contest with Lamb on the field is nearly identical to the 59.2 yards per game he averaged over his first three years with the Pittsburgh Steelers. And it was his lack of production and usage that led to many of the antics we saw in his first three NFL seasons.
After multiple instances of poor route running and blocking effort, idiotic penalties, and cringy responses to the media, the Steelers couldn't go another season with Pickens on the roster. Sure, it feels like the Dallas Cowboys won the trade, but Pickens' statistical splits when Lamb is on the field show that trouble could soon be brewing.