In spite of the fact that he felt the need to have an impromptu press conference to address George Pickens’ immaturity and antics, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin decided that there would be no on-field discipline for the second-year wide receiver. Pickens will be on the field today against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Tomlin essentially chalked it up to Pickens being too talented not to play against the criticism levied against him. That’s fine and all. But that still doesn’t explain why, with his immense talents, he’s not producing more, Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette argues.
“I think the biggest indictment of Mike Tomlin…is his handling of this situation, but [also], why can’t they find a way to get that guy the ball?”, he told Andrew Fillipponi and Chris Mueller on 93.7 The Fan on Thursday. “I mean, this is the NFL! Scheme it up! Get your best player the football”.
Over the past seven games, Pickens is averaging 3.4 receptions per game for 41.7 yards and has not scored in that time. But he is also averaging only 5.4 targets per game, and his average depth of target has been trending shallower.
He saw an average of 7.6 targets per game in the first seven weeks, producing 74.6 yards per game with three touchdowns. Part of the difference is the fact that WR Diontae Johnson missed most of that time. But not enough to completely explain the discrepancy.
Every week, it seems, the Steelers talk about how they need to find ways to get Pickens the ball more. But the very fact that they keep talking about it tells you that they’re not actually doing it. And they’re not. Sure, there have been plays that he’s left out on the field. But if they’re such big believers in Pickens, why aren’t they trusting him to do more?
“Mike is deeply invested in George and a lot of other players that he scouts during the offseason”, Fittipaldo said. “He puts a lot of effort into this, he takes a lot of pride, and maybe some rehabilitation projects like George Pickens, so when things go wrong like this, he can’t walk away. He has to try to make it work”.
He added that Tomlin views Pickens as “his guy”, of course this being his own speculation, reading into it as he sees it, though I imagine many would concur with his observations. “He sort of views him almost like a pet project, so for better or for worse, I think as long as Mike Tomlin is the head coach, George is gonna be around”.
He may be a big believer in Pickens’ ability, but the way things are going, it doesn’t seem as though Tomlin has an offense capable of maximizing it. They are really struggling to feature him, to put him in positions to succeed, and to exploit his skill set. The only thing they’ve really tried to take advantage of seems to be his combat-catch ability, and that’s an inherently hit-or-miss proposition.
