One of the most impressive players this preseason was Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens, and Pickens proved exactly why he has drawn such high praise with a ridiculous one-handed catch on Thursday.
The former Georgia standout raised eyebrows with his comments following the Steelers Week 2 loss to the New England Patriots, saying that he was “open 90 percent of the time” during the game.
Pickens showed why veteran quarterback Mitchell Trubisky should be looking his way more in Thursday’s game, making a ridiculous one-handed catch with Browns cornerback Martin Emerson Jr. draped all over him.
Replay angles of the insane George Pickens catch. 🏈 pic.twitter.com/deyVLddah3
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) September 23, 2022
This ridiculous catch has many around the NFL world taking to social media to sing his praises.
George Pickens has arrived. pic.twitter.com/TrzJRtIKcZ
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) September 23, 2022
george pickens: pic.twitter.com/zGdvOB3t4g
— DraftKings (@DraftKings) September 23, 2022
I guess George Pickens is right. Open 99% of the time.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 23, 2022
Not sure you’ll see a better catch than this one by George Pickens all year, at any level. The body control, hands, and vision are out of this world!
— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) September 23, 2022
George Pickens just went Odell.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) September 23, 2022
George Pickens, how?!?! pic.twitter.com/Si43Wu5Krw
— Jonathan Acosta (@_jacosta) September 23, 2022
Trubisky has been under a ton of criticism for his performance thus far this season, but he certainly put that pass in a position that only Pickens could catch it.
He currently sits as the No. 3 receiver on the Steelers depth chart behind star receiver Diontae Johnson and Chase Claypool, but it certainly seems like he could at least pass Claypool with impressive catches like this.
It may be tough to show much consistency with Trubisky under center as the team’s third wide receiving option, but Pickens certainly has shown that he is a big play waiting to happen if given the opportunity.
[Photo Credit: Amazon Prime]
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.