George Pickens (WR, PIT) - Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 4

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues

ROSTERED IN: 41% of Leagues

ANALYSIS: It is taking Pittsburgh a little bit more time than we would have liked, but we're getting there. I'm talking, of course, about the two rookies to land in Pitt this summer: QB Kenny Pickett and WR George Pickens. The former has yet to appear in a game for the Steelers but that is not too far away by the look of it...while the latter has been playing better each passing week and is finally coming off his breakout game of the early season.

Don't get me wrong, though. Pickens scored just 1.3 PPR points in W1, then only 3.3 in W2, and he's now fresh off a low 6.9 PPR-tally game against Cleveland on TNF. That's not going to win you the league, of course, but Pickens has gone from playing 45 (71%) snaps to 50 (85%) to lastly 45 (79%) as the season has evolved. The increase in playing time is sizable, and more interestingly Pickens is now locked into Pitt's WR3 role for good.

The production has to get a little bit higher if Pickens wants to become a viable fantasy option, of course, but we should get there not too far from now. He grabbed one-of-three targets in each of his first two games as a pro (for three and 23 yards respectively) but he finally caught more than one pass against the Browns hauling in three receptions (on seven targets) for a season-high 39 yards.

QB Mitch Trubisky, while reliable, is the most mediocre and upside-cutting quarterback in the league or close to it. Pittsburgh will realize at some point that they're better off benching Mitch and handing Kenny Pickett all the reps and snaps he can get as soon as he can get them. The Steelers are playing for a good draft pick this season, so that'd be a win-win situation for everyone involved including Pickett and, by extension, George Pickens.

Pickens is gaining some traction and a change at the QB position in Pittsburgh will boost his upside even more. Grab some shares while they're still there and before it's too late.

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