Last season, the Pittsburgh Steelers went into the season with three wide receivers, all of which have the potential to be true No. 1 receivers. Pittsburgh opted to trade Chase Claypool away but was left with the tandem of Dointae Johnson and George Pickens.
The analytics gurus at FiveThirtyEight ranked the top receivers in the NFL based on their ability to get open, catching the football and yards after the catch. Here are four takeaways from where Johnson and Pickens landed.
No receiver got open better than Diontae Johnson
Diontae Johnson ranked tops in the NFL in getting open. While I don’t doubt this to be true, that skill didn’t pay off for Johnson due to a myriad of reasons. Johnson ran 581 routes and was targeted 144 times with only 86 of them turning into receptions.
No receiver catches the ball better than George Pickens
On the opposite end of things was George Pickens who ranked tops in terms of catching. An impressive feat as a rookie without a doubt. Unfortunately, Pickens was among the worst at getting open on his 552 routes resulting in only 85 targets.
Compared to the league, both guys were pretty darn good
Thanks to the fact both Pickens and Johnson excelled in a specific category, they both graded out very well overall. Johnson was middle of the road in catching and YAC but that ability to get open helped him average out as the No. 5 receiver in the league last season. Meanwhile, Pickens’ ability to catch everything thrown his way overcame his poor ranking in YAC and getting open and he ended up ranked No. 12.
Yards per route is a point of growth for next year
This is as much a system issue as anything else but to have your top two receivers only average 1.5 yards per route is unacceptable. Even tight end Pat Freiermuth averaged more. To compare, the 1.5 average put both of them out of the top 50 with Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill leading the league with 3.3 yards per route.
