Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens is no newbie when it comes to running routes, but he sees more sophistication in Arthur Smith’s scheme. The Steelers’ new offensive coordinator plans to make the deep ball a staple of the offense.
His predecessor, Matt Canada, also liked to play long balls, but Pickens sees the difference between the two. He spoke about the topic with reporters on the team’s website on Wednesday after the Steelers’ last open practice.
“The scheme behind it is great. I would probably say a lot of the deep balls planned,” Pickens said of Smith’s deep ball plan. “You remember I only ran ‘go’ last year, so I ran deep balls last year. But as far as the scheme goes, I think it’s a much better scheme vertically.”
George Pickens, a 2022 second-round pick, is actually a top-notch deep-ball receiver. Last year, he led the NFL in yards per reception (18.1), but also in percentage of vertical routes run. Arthur Smith intends to put that to good use this year, and Pickens says, “I think we want to go vertical.”
The deep ball obviously also suits the skills of quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, who went throw for throw at the end of training camp, but Pickens is a popular target for every quarterback on the roster, including Kyle Allen and John Rhys Plumlee.
Even though he believes Smith schemes the deep ball better, Pickens knows the burden is still on him. “The defense is still going to play man coverage, so you still have to overcome an opponent one-on-one,” he said. “But vertically, the scheme is definitely productive.”
George Pickens isn’t the only deep threat at Arthur Smith’s disposal, though. They also have Calvin Austin III and his ability to score 72-yard touchdowns that he showed last year. While he’s a fixture on the roster, Scotty Miller and Quez Watkins still have more work to do.
“It’s hard for me to talk about it because I’ve always played vertically since I got here,” Pickens said. “But as far as all the plays and the guys around me, I would probably say it’s more dynamic since we can run to QB a little bit now.”
While Smith gets a lot of praise, Pickens is far from the first to criticize Matt Canada’s strategies. Even some current players have made unfavorable comparisons. Austin recently said he hasn’t shown even half of what he can do in Canada’s strategies.
Of course, the best plan in the world doesn’t guarantee success. Arthur Smith still needs George Pickens and Russell Wilson and Co. to execute his plays well. We won’t know how it all fits together until the regular season, because the quarterback position is the biggest variable hanging over the Steelers’ heads.
