George Pickens recorded only one 1,000-yard receiving season in his three years with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now with the Dallas Cowboys, the former second-round pick hopes to put up video game numbers alongside four-time Pro Bowl receiver CeeDee Lamb.
Pickens compared him and Lamb to possibly the most iconic video game duo of all-time when he was asked Tuesday at Cowboys training camp if their wideout tandem can be one of the best in the NFL.
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“Oh yeah, for sure,” Pickens said. “Just different type of styles of play. A lot of people over the years got different styles of play, but CeeDee’s a certain type of guy, then I’m a certain type of guy. So, when you mesh that together, it’s like ‘Mario Bros.’
“We definitely can do something special.”
If Lamb is Mario, the slightly-taller Pickens is his sidekick, Luigi.
Like Luigi, Pickens can jump far and high. He turned heads with his diving grabs at Georgia. Pickens is also known for his ability to climb the ladder and come down with 50-50 balls, occasionally with only one hand and some acrobatic flare.
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As a rookie with the Steelers, the 6-foot-3 Hoover, Alabama, native tallied 19 contested catches, according to Pro Football Focus, the third most in the NFL during the 2022 season and more than Lamb has ever logged during a single season of his five-year Cowboys career.
Granted Lamb came close with 18 contested catches last season, per PFF, but he’s recognized more for the work he does in space. The Oklahoma product ranked fifth in the NFL with 544 yards after the catch (YAC) in 2024. The year before that, when Lamb was a first-team All-Pro and the league’s receptions leader, he was second with 674 YAC and fifth with 20 missed tackles forced, according to PFF.
Lamb flirted with 1,000 receiving yards as a rookie in 2020 but has comfortably eclipsed the mark each of the four seasons since, maxing out with 1,749 yards during his 135-reception 2023 campaign.
Together, Lamb and Pickens figure to serve as the top-two receiving options for Cowboys veteran quarterback Dak Prescott, who is back after suffering a season-ending hamstring tear in Week 9 last season.
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In May, Dallas traded with Pittsburgh for Pickens. The Cowboys also received a 2026 sixth-round pick from the Steelers, who, in return, got a 2026 third-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick from Dallas.
Pittsburgh moved Pickens, focusing on former Seattle Seahawks star DK Metcalf as the team’s WR1. The Steelers had acquired Metcalf in a trade with the Seahawks earlier in the offseason and inked him to a $150 million deal.
By that point, though, there were several signs pointing to a Pickens-Steelers breakup. While Pickens dealt with a revolving door at quarterback in Pittsburgh, the Steelers were subject to Pickens’ well-documented maturity issues that dated back to his time at Georgia.
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Despite the trade and his new beginnings, Pickens isn’t refraining from taking shots at his old team.
“Yeah, I’m definitely excited to run better plays, for sure,” Pickens said Tuesday, via NFL.com.
Pickens will have a clean slate in Dallas, where he’ll be running routes on the same field as Lamb, the Mario to his Luigi.
