When George Pickens failed to block his man on what would have been a touchdown run by Jaylen Warren in Pittsburgh’s Week 15 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, it annoyed a lot of fans who were used to seeing Hines Ward, one of the best blocking receivers ever, give 100% effort every play. Ward was recently a guest on the Eye Test For Two podcast with Ira Kaufman and Clark Judge, and he offered his thoughts on Pickens.
“Listen, he’s extremely talented. There’s no question about it. But I think the sense of entitlement, you have to prove your worth,” Ward told Kaufman and Judge. “You can’t be an All-Star just because of what you do, make a couple of ‘splash plays’ here and there. You’ve got to be an All-Star consistently to do it week in and week out, and he just hasn’t done that yet.”
Pickens got off to a fast start this season, but he hasn’t topped 100 yards in a game since Week Seven. He’s also only topped 60 yards once from Week 8-15, an 86-yard effort against the Arizona Cardinals in a Week 13 loss. Some of Pickens’ lack of production can be blamed on quarterback play, but the fact of the matter is he hasn’t met expectations in his second season.
Even with Diontae Johnson missing significant time with a hamstring injury, Pickens’ numbers will likely end up only slightly better than they were his rookie season. Not that anybody should have an excuse to give a lack of effort, but Pickens hasn’t played well enough to get away with taking a play or two off.
Ward also said that “your tape is your resume,” and Pickens isn’t building a good resume by “lollygagging” on plays. He added that blocking is all effort, and if Pickens doesn’t want to show effort on those plays, his career might not go the way he wants.
“If George was right here in front of me, I’d pull him in and say, ‘Man, what do you want your career to be? Do you want it to be known for you lollygagging on plays, putting bad stuff on tape for people to see you?’ Ward said. “Blocking is just effort. Either you want to do it, or you don’t.'”
At this point, the path Pickens is going down isn’t a positive one. The Steelers have had a lot of receivers flash early in their career before attitude ran them out of town. Chase Claypool was the most recent example, and if Pickens doesn’t start giving more of an effort, the team could look to part ways with him before the end of his rookie contract. He hasn’t made the best impression with his effort and attitude lately, deflecting blame during his media session by saying he was trying to avoid getting injured.
“Well, you can’t play this game trying not to get hurt. Because if you do play this game trying not to get hurt, chances are you’re going to get hurt,” Ward said, while adding that Pickens should know injuries can happen at any time given his torn ACL that wiped out most of his final season at Georgia.
Today, Pickens will have an opportunity to wash last week away and show that he can be a guy who gives effort and helps his team in a positive way. The Steelers need to beat the Bengals to keep their playoff hopes alive, and a big game from Pickens would certainly help improve the team’s chances of winning. He’s lucky he’s getting the chance to play today given his attitude and effort in the past week, and hopefully he’ll reward Mike Tomlin with a good performance. If he struggles again and/or doesn’t give maximum effort, the calls for him to get run out of Pittsburgh will be a lot louder this week.
You can listen to the full interview with Ward below.
