George Pickens gives take on Steelers offense without Ben Roethlisberger

The Pittsburgh Steelers will have a new look next season, especially on offense. Longtime starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger retired after last year, and the team has seen some changes throughout the roster this offseason. Wide receiver George Pickens, the Steelers’ second round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, has already seen some of the changes on the Pittsburgh offense since being drafted last week.

Without Roethlisberger, Pickens sees a change in offensive style coming to the Steelers next season. With Mitch Trubisky, Kenny Pickett, and Mason Rudolph now fighting for the starting quarterback job, it will undoubtedly be a different look in Pittsburgh.

“Yeah, I think it’s making it into like a modern type of offense, a modern type of game style with the new quarterbacks coming in such as Kenny, got Trubisky, got a few other guys too,” Pickens said. “Ben brought a really like, I wouldn’t say an old school, but a different style of play to the Steelers. He was a big body, you don’t really gotta move around the pocket because you’re not gonna bring him to the ground. So like it was a different type of play style. But now I feel like it’s a RPO, run pass option, play action pass. Everything’s going to be a lot faster for sure.”

Pickens could have a big role out of the gate with the Steelers

At Georgia, Pickens caught 49 passes for 727 yards and eight touchdowns as a freshman in 2019. In 2020, he played in eight games with 36 receptions for 513 yards and six touchdowns. Pickens missed the majority of this season with an injury, but he brought in five receptions for 107 yards in limited action across four games as a junior.

During the offseason, the Steelers lost receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Washington in free agency. Pickens has the opportunity to see a major role right away, as does fellow 2022 draft pick Calvin Austin III.

Adding a receiver like Pickens was something that was really attractive to Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin.

“First, we acknowledge that they come in all shapes and sizes, and they do at that position probably more than any other,” Tomlin said. “Then you’re looking for distinguishing traits, and he has that. He’s a big guy — 6’3″-plus — with little guy body control. His ability to change direction, his ability to stop and start, (and) his ability to drop his weight is like that of a much smaller man. That was the trait that really attracted us to him. He’s got easy hand-eye ball skills and obviously that’s a major component of the position as well.”