The Pittsburgh Steelers struggled to throw the ball down the field last season as the team limped to a 9-8 record, good for third place in the vaunted AFC North.
It’s a problem they’ll have to fix this season if they want to improve on that mark. Second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett, a product of the local University of Pittsburgh, enters training camp as the starting quarterback.
Second-year wide receiver George Pickens should be one of Pickett’s top targets. With a massive frame, Pickens is looking to improve on a decent rookie campaign, and he says more shots down the field will be a big part of making that happen.
“That’s more of an explosive hint,” Pickens said Friday about the practice on Thursday, per Mike DeFabo of The Athletic. “Like, we’re gonna probably take more shots this year. Try to mix it up a little bit.”
Pickett ranked 32nd in the league on yards per attempt in his rookie season. He also finished 32nd in passer rating and dead last in touch-down-to-interception ratio among the 33 quarterbacks that qualified for the metric, according to NFL.com. But Pickens expects a new element to the offense nonetheless.
“The same plays are the same plays,” Pickens told DeFabo. “As far as where we’re going with the ball, huge change.”
If that’s the case, the Steelers will almost certainly improve on last season’s pedestrian record.
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