It’s strange seeing George Pickens in No. 13 wearing the Dallas Cowboys’ blue and silver. It’s even stranger to see him catch passes in OTAs in the same spectacular fashion he did with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Everyone has an opinion about Pickens because of his polarizing character. No doubt, a significant portion of the Steelers fan base is fine, if not outright happy, to see him gone. Still, he’s a special talent, and every time he makes a highlight reel catch for the Cowboys, it’s going to sting a little bit knowing it probably should have been with the Steelers.
While DK Metcalf will play his role in a slightly different number, there’s going to be something missing. Yeah, Metcalf is a big-bodied deep threat who can make his own style of circus catches - but feats like that unbelievable catch against the Cleveland Browns, where Pickens was parallel to the ground, that’s not coming back.
Metcalf, and hopefully other Steelers receivers, are going to make eye-popping, electric plays happen in the passing game. This is the NFL - everyone is good. And pound for pound, Metcalf is a far more complete receiver than Pickens is at this stage in his young career.
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But for the Steelers fans like me who instantly became a fan of Pickens when that infamous shot of him watching his name get called in the 2022 NFL Draft went viral, it’s okay to miss him, even just a little bit. There’s immense potential in that 6-foot-3, 200-pound frame. It’s the "six inches between the ears" he has to sort out.
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Maybe Dallas can unlock the superstar that Pickens can become. It’s clear just from the small samples we’ve seen out of Cowboys OTAs that he’s still going to do typical ‘George Pickens things’ on the field.
But even when he does, inevitably, make that alien-like, circus catch for Dallas this season, there will be plenty of Steelers fans content with no longer experiencing the ‘George Pickens things’ off the field. Or on the sidelines.