The Pittsburgh Steelers' passing attack has gotten off to a rough start to the season, and as a result wide receiver George Pickens hasn't done much for fantasy football owners.
Pickens has just 13 catches for 171 scoreless yards through three games and ranks as WR48 overall in PPR formats, according to Fantasy Pros. Pickens' best game of the season came in Week 1 (six catches, 85 yards), but he's turned in two lackluster showings over the past two weeks.
Week 4 is a good time to start evaluating your roster in terms of the disappointing players who you should either hold on to or give up on. Pickens is certainly one of those players, but should you go ahead and drop him in Week 4?
Should you drop George Pickens?
There are several reasons why you shouldn't give up on the Steelers wide receiver, with the first one being that Pickens managed to break 1,100 yards last season in what was arguably a worse situation under center.
We have to remember that Pickens is playing with a new quarterback this year and it takes time to build chemistry. Granted, I don't love Justin Fields as a passer and believe he's not good for Pickens, but things should get better between the two to the point that Pickens is a flex option, at worst.
That leads me to my next point: Pickens is likely to thrive more with Russell Wilson as his quarterback, as Wilson is simply a better passer than Fields to all areas of the field, including deep.
The problem is that Wilson, who was named the starter to begin the year, hasn't been able to play over the first three weeks because of a calf injury and it looks like Fields is going to start again in Week 4.
Adding to that, Fields may continue to get the football as long as the Steelers keep winning and he doesn't self-destruct.
All that said, I do believe the Steelers are going to turn to Wilson at some point because the offense has a higher ceiling with him under center. Once that happens, Pickens will have a chance to really take off and deliver the kind of high-end WR2 production we were expecting ahead of the 2024 campaign.
For now, keep Pickens on your bench if possible and wait for the better days that are ahead.
