Jerry Jones has made plenty of bold moves over the years, but trading for George Pickens might go down as one of his best ever. Back in March, Jones bringing Pickens to Dallas seemed like a recipe for disaster. But the gamble has now turned into a full-blown offensive jackpot.
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Through 12 games, Pickens has already stacked 1,142 yards, 73 receptions, and eight touchdowns in 13 weeks this season. In fact, after his six-catch, 88-yard outing against the Chiefs on Thanksgiving, Pickens officially crossed into the best season of his career.
This is perhaps why so many are stunned today because Pickens always had traits, but he never looked like this in Pittsburgh, where inconsistency, scheme friction, and quarterback instability held him back. And yet, someone saw this version coming long before Cowboys fans did: Ryan Clark.
Back in 2023, Clark dropped a bold take by claiming that George Pickens was “much more talented than Justin Jefferson,” while clarifying that JJ was the better technician, but his Steelers counterpart was the superior raw specimen.
The former Steelers safety even recalled Mike Tomlin telling him Georgia “didn’t even work to tolerate [Pickens], and certainly didn’t try to raise him,” implying his ceiling had not been tapped.
So when Clark revisited that clip on Thanksgiving night, right after Pickens torched the defending AFC champions again, social media erupted. With a victory lap, he wrote on X:
Y’all had a lot to say a few years back when I said GP was built different!! Ain’t sounding so wild now!
S/O @danorlovsky7 for the find. https://t.co/eQsmHxD3jn
— Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25) November 28, 2025
While Clark may have thought that his take ageing well would earn him plaudits on the internet, the reaction from fans was anything but. One fan pushed back immediately: “I’m usually with you but JJ has an unproven rookie QB. I’m still taking JJ over GP… and it ain’t close.”
Another said Jefferson would “kill to have my guy (Dak Prescott) throwing him the ball right now.” A third went straight for the receipts. “You didn’t say he was built different. You said he was much more talented than Jefferson — still wild even now,” he said.
And one user even accused Clark of switching sides. “But aren’t you the same guy that bashed Pickens after he was traded?” they said.
That’s the thing about George Pickens: his talent has always been polarizing, and Clark has always been loud about it, whether people liked it or not. But the truth probably lives somewhere in the middle.
Justin Jefferson, for the first time in his career, is playing with a quarterback — J.J. McCarthy — who has statistically been one of the league’s worst starters. That context matters a lot. At the same time, George Pickens is finally in a stable, explosive offense with Dak Prescott.
