FRISCO, Texas – In 2025, the Cowboys' WR tandem of CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens combined for 2,506 receiving yards, the second most from a WR duo in the NFL just 12 yards behind Detroit's Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams.
On Sunday, Lamb and Pickens kick off their second full season playing next to one another. Pickens, who earned his first career Pro Bowl nod in his first season with Dallas last year, feels he and Lamb are the best duo in the league.
"Yeah, we definitely think we're the best," Pickens said. "Now, for everybody's brains and mindsets, I don't know what they're going to say. For us, yeah, we're the best."
Pickens added that he respects some of the other elite receiver pairs around the league, like Cincinnati's Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins plus the Rams' Puka Nacua and Davante Adams, but otherwise thinks so highly of himself and Lamb that he doesn't "look at or really watch other guys."
Since the Cowboys acquired Pickens via trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers in May 2025, he and Lamb have had a close relationship. Playing the same position and being around one another often was a big spark for it.
"I feel like a lot of guys in the league are friends, but you get a guy on your team and he's a D-tackle, then you get a linebacker, I feel like it's going to take longer to mesh," Pickens said. "But me and [Lamb] play the same position, so we see each other every day."
Confidence is something that is always widespread among NFL players. Earlier this week, Giants CB Greg Newsome II said he thought New York had "the best cornerback room in the league." Pickens heard those comments.
"Yeah, that's definitely how he should feel," Pickens said. "Now, how we should feel, I'd definitely probably say a completely different story. But that's cool that he definitely thinks that, that's cool…"
"I feel like he should definitely feel like that, but I feel like we're definitely not thinking the same thing."
Only Sunday night will tell who has the upper hand. In the meantime, the buildup to the season opener is an exciting one for Pickens, who say he's "itching" to get back on the field and play in a true game setting.
"Anytime I can continue what I was leaving off of, and definitely for the team," Pickens said on his goals for the season. "Big things, big goals, big aspirations for everybody, so definitely want to accomplish that…"
"Kind of where I left off last year, and then definitely for a team goal, that's definitely what I see and what I kind of want for the team that we've got this year, is to do bigger and better things, whether that's later in the postseason or past the postseason to the bigger game. Just reaching for that, honestly."
With a full season wearing a star on his helmet, the start of the 2026 campaign feels very different from that of a year ago this time.
"Way more comfortable, especially when you have 17, 18 games learning the same scheme," Pickens said. "So I'm super, super comfortable now."
In his three seasons with the Steelers, Pickens had to face the John Harbaugh-led Ravens twice a year in the AFC North's premiere rivalry. Now, he'll have to see him twice a year once more after the Giants hired Harbaugh as their head coach this offseason. What stands out about a Harbaugh team?
"Physical," Pickens said. "I feel like John Harbaugh, that's one of the biggest things he likes to harp on, just him personally. Just be physical, and I feel like when he drives that notion through the guys that he's got on his team, I feel like they're going to come out and be a physical group."
The good news for Pickens? Physical football isn't something new.
"I played at Georgia in the SEC, so it's been kind of physical my whole life," Pickens said. "So I'm kind of used to it."
