For weeks now, head coach Mike Tomlin has been talking up second-year WR George Pickens in a very particular way: by emphasizing how well his teammates are doing. More specifically, he has highlighted how recent commitment by opposing defenses to take him out of games has opened up other areas of the offense.
It is unknown how much better that might make Pickens feel. Just by watching his body language over the past week and a half, one might ascertain that it hasn’t been a rousing success. Yet judging by the responses of his teammates and coaches, one thing is quite clear, Ray Fittipaldo argued.
“Just how open guys like Diontae Johnson and Najee Harris were about trying to bring him along, I think it’s obvious to anyone who’s on that team he’s a really, really important player”, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter told Andrew Fillipponi and Chris Mueller on 93.7 The Fan this week. “If you look at the attention that he’s gotten the last couple of games, teams have realized this guy’s a unique talent, this guy can wreck you if you don’t pay attention to him”.
While he hasn’t yet had that one transcendent performance, Pickens has certainly had his moments of dominance so far this season. And the fact that he has done most of that while playing without another established wide receiver on the roster is all the more impressive. Some of that has even come without a significant tight end threat.
Between Weeks Two and Seven (a five-game span), Pickens registered 22 catches for 464 yards and two touchdowns. That included three 100-yard games, the highlight being a six-catch, 130-yard day against the Baltimore Ravens. The afternoon culminated in a 41-yard go-ahead touchdown from QB Kenny Pickett with under two minutes to play.
Establishing just how talented and how important he is sounds great and all, certainly, but what then? There’s a reason that we are talking so much about Pickens’ emotions and his frustration and how much effort teammates and coaches have put into working with him to control them.
Few would care to talk about it if it were Calvin Austin III who was upset, or Elandon Roberts, or Keanu Neal. Is Anthony McFarland Jr. not happy with his playing time? Too bad, so sad. The squeaky wheel doesn’t get the grease unless it’s going to take the bus far.
“I think they all know that they have to get him more involved”, Fittipaldo said, referencing Pickens’ seeming frustration over his lack of targets and production in recent weeks. “But they’re also trying to coach him up and say, ‘Hey, there’s a better way to go about your business than what you’re doing’”.
As our regular readers, and likely even our more casual readers, at this point know, the subject of George Pickens and his temperamental ways has been flogged to death, revived, only to be bludgeoned further. But the beauty of sports is that the opportunity to answer questions on the field is always just around the corner. Pickens has his chance to respond to the past week and a half on Sunday. Don’t count on him being taken out of this one.
