The Pittsburgh Steelers will rely upon George Pickens to be the top target in the team’s passing offense. With a bunch of unproven names behind him on the wide receiver depth chart, Pickens needs to step up and become a true No. 1 target for the Steelers to have a successful passing game.

New Steelers safety DeShon Elliott has seen a lot of great wide receivers in his time around the NFL. He played with Tyreek Hill in Miami in 2023, so he knows what top wide receivers look like daily. Elliott says that he has never seen someone like Pickens, though, who makes alien-like catches every single day.

“I had Tyreek Hill on my team,” Elliott said on The Sick Podcast — Steelers Crazy. “I have never seen a freak of nature like George Pickens.”

Pickens looked like he had another gear in his game this training camp. He put up an excellent performance, catching passes all over the football field, including as an intermediate route runner. Over the last few seasons, Pickens has largely only been a deep ball player with occasional flashes on underneath balls. Yet, suppose he can put it all together and become a dynamic route runner and separator. In that case, the Steelers will have something serious to work with in this offense, even if the pieces around Pickens in the wide receiver room are suboptimal.

Pickens has great body control and hands. That will carry with him no matter what routes he runs. The Steelers can scheme up significant mismatches even with the rest of the wide receiver room just by using Pickens in innovative ways.

Wednesday night the Pittsburgh Pirates (65-73) will look to complete a three-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs (71-68) who are hanging on by a thread in the National League Wild Card race, sitting 4.5 games out of the Atlanta Braves for that third and final spot.

The Pirates received yet another strong outing from ace Paul Skenes on Tuesday despite laboring through the first three inning were he tossed 77 pitches. He was able to gut out five scoreless frames before turning it over to the bullpen. Colin Holderman, Carmen Mlodzinski, and David Bendar continued to throw up zeroes to complete a 5-0 shutout.

Below, you’ll find tonight’s starting lineups which were turned in just moments ago by managers Derek Shelton and Craig Counsell. Moments ago, Andrew McCutchen was removed from the lineup. Oneil Cruz will now DH while Michael A. Taylor mans center field.

PITTSBURGH PIRATES

1. SS Isiah Kiner-Falefa
2. LF Bryan Reynolds
3. 2B Nick Gonzales
4. DH Oneil Cruz
5. 1B Connor Joe
6. RF Bryan De La Cruz
7. 3B Jared Triolo
8. CF Michael A. Taylor
9. C Henry Davis

P Domingo German (0-0, 6.11 ERA)

Player to Watch – 2B Nick Gonzales

Since returning from a groin injury, Gonzales has been on a tear. In his seven games since being activated, Gonzales is 11-of-32 (.344) with three doubles and four multi-hit games. In 77 plate appearances this season against left-handed pitching, Gonzales is 21-for-73 with two homers and 13 RBI. Andrew McCutchen and Connor Joe have been great against lefties in their respective careers and of late, so has Oneil Cruz. Gonzales is in a spot to set the tone for those guys in the middle of the order.

CHICAGO CUBS

1. LF Ian Happ
2. 1B Michael Busch
3. DH Seiya Suzuki
4. RF Cody Bellinger
5. 3B Isaac Paredes
6. 2B Nico Hoerner
7. SS Dansby Swanson
8. CF Pete Crow-Armstrong
9. C Miguel Amaya

P Shota Imanaga (11-3, 3.14 ERA)

First pitch between the Pirates and Cubs is set for 7:40 p.m. EST.

Make sure to visit Pirates OnSI for the latest news, updates, interviews and insight on the Pittsburgh Pirates

PITTSBURGH — A day after Russell Wilson was announced as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive captain this season, a national analyst raised some confusion towards the decision.

Fox Sports 1’s Emmanuel Acho, who is a part of the network’s new show titled The Facility, is of the opinion that the Steelers should have shied away from awarding a captain patch to Wilson because he is at risk of losing his starting quarterback job.

“I got a huge issue with it,” Acho said. “Here’s my issue with it. Russell Wilson, I believe, is one of the greatest men I have ever met in my life. We came into the National Football League together. Russell Wilson is probably one of the best leaders of men in society. My issue is this: Don’t name a captain you might bench.”

It is customary for NFL teams to impart captaincy upon their quarterback, and for good reason. Players at the position assume large responsibilities both on and off the field and essentially hold the weight of the team in their hands, so it’s only right that they are officially recognized for their leadership.

Whether it’s coaches or players voting on captains, rallying around an organization’s signal caller can also generate some additional camaraderie, which becomes easier when they have that patch on their jersey and are a figurehead in the locker room.

Wilson has been a captain since his sophomore campaign in 2013 and is also one of the more experienced and accomplished quarterbacks in the entire league. Pittsburgh has put a premium on his intangibles and believes in his ability to turn the offense’s fortunes around, likely making its decision an easy one.

There is some precedent for this choice when looking at prior seasons, as Kenny Pickett and Mitch Trubisky were named captains after winning the starting job despite not having a firm grip on that role. Both players were eventually benched, so the Steelers are no strangers to working through the exact scenario Acho cautioned about.

Make sure to bookmark Steelers OnSI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more.