Talent was there. Production wasn't.
The raw numbers is what matters. Let's not pretend otherwise.
The raw numbers are why he's NOW considered a top 10 WR.
He was never considered a top 10 WR in Pittsburgh.
He got his numbers in Dallas because he had damn good QB play for the 1st time in his career.
Going just off of the counting stats can be a horrible way to evaluate production if you ignore the effeciency metrics that go along with it.
You're telling me that the QB play is the primary difference here? The fact that Pickens got 25% fewer passing snaps the previous season in Pittsburgh isn't the primary factor? If you adjust Pickens 2024 pace to the same number of opportunities he had in 2025 hes still a 1300 yard WR. That still shows the Cowboy bump, but it's not nearly as extreme.
There are some exceptions, Justin Jefferson last year had a fairly significant drop off last season and I dont think its talent related, but overall we see that QBs don't have quite the extreme effect as we probably think. Even someone like Lamb who has 13 career games without Dak averages 74.5 ypg without him since 2021....I forgot he was a rookie in 2020 so I missed some of those games and dont want to redo the math lol. Over a full season that's still a 1,268 yard year, right in line with his career norms.
The effeciency metrics aren't a fool proof method in player evaluation, but certainly tell a fuller story. it's exactly why its was very easy to point out that someone like Tolbert wasn't really a starting NFL WR after his mini breakout in 2024. Yeah his slash line looked pretty good for a secondary receiver, however he was close to the top of the league in terms of routes he ran that year. That year was a story of his opportunity volume, not a story of vastly improved play.
Going off yardage totals is basically saying the RB who got 1,000 yards on 200 carries is the same as the RB who got 1,000 yards on 300 carries. Those are two very different results production wise.
