When George Pickens arrived at Jerry Jones’ lair in early May, two questions left many sleepless. One: If the player would be able to leave his antics behind. And two: How the Steelers wide receiver curse would make his career a living hell. Fortunately, five months down the line, it looks like the doubts were never here to stay. The reality on the gridiron spells power and poise. With 23 receptions, 357 yards, and five TDs in five games, the WR is hitting all the right notes. Yet, it looks like team legend Michael Irvin expects more.

“I also see something in George Pickens,” the retired WR voluntarily added while talking about Dak Prescott‘s MVP candidature on the Rich Eisen show. “I think he’s a phenomenal talent, but moving from number two to becoming a number one receiver is not an easy thing. And he stepped in, and he’s made some plays, [but] I think he’s still not anywhere near his ceiling as far as the plays he makes.”

With Lamb nursing a high ankle sprain, Pickens found himself pushed into the WR1 role. In their Week 5 clash against the New York Jets, he logged 57 receiving yards and hauled in a touchdown. But the far more impressive stat line came in Week 4 against the Green Bay Packers. Pickens ended the game with eight receptions, 134 yards, and two touchdowns, his best performance this season so far (as well as the 2024 season). Still, Michael Irvin believes the WR can go higher. Pickens’ history backs that up, too.

GP’s highest career production notably came in Week 15 with the Pittsburgh Steelers against the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2023 season. In that single game, Pickens had logged 4 receptions for a whopping 195 yards and two touchdowns. If he can spark a similar fire in Dallas, Irvin believes the Cowboys have a strong shot at making another deep playoff run.

“You get Dak, George Pickens, and [Ryan] Flournoy doing what he’s doing,” he said. “Now you add CeeDee Lamb back to that when he gets healthy… That’s scary. And Dallas can have a shot at doing it.”

Notably, the Dallas Cowboys are currently averaging 34 more rushing yards per game. As opposed to last season, when the team never had a run longer than 27 yards, this season has seen 30, 49 and 66-yard runs. What’s more, they’ve already scored seven rushing touchdowns through five weeks, one more than in 17 games during the 2024 season. Even without Lamb, Dallas’ offense has found itself at the top of the league’s offensive leaderboard in total yards per game (406.6).

In fact, a statistical breakdown of their run game in terms of DVOA (Defense-Adjusted Value Over Average) shows how superior the team has been. As per reports, they rank first in rushing DVOA, and unadjusted rushing DVOA, while ranking fifth in overall defensive DVOA.

Side note: For those unaware, DVOA “breaks down the entire season play-by-play, comparing success on each play to the league average based on a number of variables including down, distance, location on field, current score gap, quarter, and opponent quality.”

Having said that, the offense is only one part of that puzzle. Yes, Pickens is making plays, but Dallas won’t go deep unless the defense finds its footing.

Dallas’ defensive woes and Michael Irvin’s verdict

The Playmaker didn’t sugarcoat Dallas’ defensive problems during the same interview. While the offense ranks No. 1 in the league heading into Week 6, it simply can’t be ignored that the defense ranks dead last with 412 yards and 18 touchdowns allowed. Recent games have exposed blown coverages and run games that have gotten too easy for opponents. As Irvin put it:

“It’s just that they got to score 35 to 40 points a game unless the defense shows up like it showed up last week. But we can’t. I don’t expect that right now.”

Dallas’ new defensive coordinator, Matt Eberflus, is still searching for a rhythm when it comes to the secondary. However, injuries keep shuffling the lineup, while late-game lapses erase big leads, forcing Dak Prescott and the offense to bail out the defense every week. But Week 5 did show a spark.

Against a struggling Jets squad, Dallas’ defense logged 47 solo tackles, five sacks, six tackles for loss, and a whopping 14 QB hits. Yet, the question is: Has Dallas’ defense found its spark, or is this a one-off? For now, Michael Irvin’s expectations bank towards the latter. But Week 6 against the Carolina Panthers will show us if Eberflus’ squad has found its footing at last.