As the dog days of the Pittsburgh Steelers training camp rolls on, the Justin Fields to George Pickens connection is heating up. Watching practice, it’s felt obvious: No. 2 always looking for No. 14. But one (of many) reasons why we track our play-by-play and camp stats is to put numbers to the feeling.
It tells the same story—perhaps a stronger one. Below is a table of the daily Fields-to-Pickens targets, completions, yards, and touchdowns throughout each of the Steelers’ nine camp practices. The trends feel clear. I’ve highlighted the last three days in bold, where the uptick in production really began.
These numbers are only from the 11 on 11 team periods, not 7 on 7 drills.
| Day | Fields/Pickens Completions/Targets | Fields/Pickens Yards | Fields/Pickens TDs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0/2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 1/2 | 51 | 0 |
| 3 | 2/3 | 27 | 0 |
| 4 | 1/3 | 9 | 0 |
| 5 | 3/3 | 6 | 1 |
| 6 | 2/3 | 23 | 0 |
| 7 | 4/6 | 76 | 1 |
| 8 | 7/7 | 48 | 2 |
| 9 | 4/5 | 20 | 2 |
It was a slow start, though Fields’ first two passes on the first day of camp went Pickens’ way. One was catchable, but a play Pickens couldn’t finish, and the next was low and a ball Pickens had no chance at. The two linked up for their first big gain on Day Two, a 51-yard hookup. Days Three and Four were relatively quiet before he scored his first touchdown from Fields on Day Five.
After a quiet Day Six, the connection heated up on Day Seven. Pickens had his most yards and scored on the first-team’s two-minute drill. The following day, he had his most receptions and caught every target from Fields. And over the past two practices, he’s found the end zone twice during seven shots.
To show even clearer context, here are Pickens’ stats from the first six practices compared to the past three.
| Day | Fields/Pickens Completions/Targets | Fields/Pickens Yards | Fields/Pickens TDs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-6 | 9/16 | 116 | 1 |
| 7-9 | 15/18 | 144 | 5 |
Over the last three days, Pickens has had more receptions, targets, yards, and touchdowns than he did in the first six of them.
“I’ve been knowing him way before the Steelers,” Pickens said of Fields Saturday via the team’s YouTube channel. “So our chemistry has kinda been good all along…he’s got the same personality.”
Granted, this may become moot. Russell Wilson figures to return to throwing in team period at some point and is still who I consider the favorite to be the Steelers’ Week 1 starter. Their chemistry matters more and it hasn’t had much time to be cultivated. But if Fields ever works his way into the lineup, be it the present or the future, know that Pickens is his favorite target.
