Steelers WR George Pickens Broke Down Why He’s the ‘Best in the World’

The receiver is heading into the 2023 season with the same confidence he had during his rookie year.

Steelers wide receiver George Pickens was recently interviewed by The Ringer’s Kevin Clark, and the second-year player did not hold back his thoughts on his own game.

After his rookie season, Pickens already feels like he is “the best in the whole world.” 

“The stuff that I do, bro, I feel like I’m the best in the whole world,” Pickens said. “I’m big, I’m fast, low 4.4 [speed]. Catch radius is crazy. So every time I get out on the field, I do kind of play angry because I should get the ball on every play if you just look at the size and the frame. If I was a coach, I’d just throw to him every time. But that’s not how the NFL works. So every time I’m out there, that’s why I throw the blocks. I love getting the ball, and when I’m not getting the ball I play angry so the attention is back on me. I basically draw attention to myself.”

Clark then asked Pickens to clarify his comments about what he means by the “best” in the world, especially after just one year in the NFL.

“Receiver in the world. I’m not going to lie to you,” Pickens said. “If you want a receiver, you create a player, it’s ‘Oh, I’m gonna put his blocking 99, catching 99, speed 99.’ That’s me. ... As far as what you’d use to build a receiver, I’m the ideal guy.”

In 17 games and 12 starts last season, Pickens completed 52 catches out of 84 targets for 801 yards and four touchdowns. His yardage ranks him fourth out of all rookie wide receivers in the league last year behind Jets’ Garrett Wilson, Saints’ Chris Olave and Falcons’ Drake London, according to StatMuse.