Pittsburgh Steelers WR George Pickens had a 2023 season to remember, sometimes for the right reasons and sometimes for the wrong ones. He had a strong rookie season in 2022 with 52 catches for 801 yards and four touchdowns. So it was understandable that he headed into the 2023 season with a lot of expectations. Those were only heightened when he pulled off the catch of the year during training camp over rookie CB Joey Porter Jr.
However, the season was not all roses for Pickens and the Steelers. His work ethic and maturity were called into question at different points of the season. However, he was instrumental down the stretch, helping get the Steelers into the playoffs. Head coach Mike Tomlin was asked about what he saw out of Pickens in terms of maturing during his end-of-year press conference.
“It’s been in all areas, in football and in life,” Tomlin said about Pickens maturing via video from the Steelers’ YouTube channel. “But there’s a lot of meat on that bone, and I’m excited about continuing to be a component of that process with him.”
Statistically, 2023 was a successful year for Pickens in terms of growth. He saw 22 more targets than his rookie year and had 11 more catches, hauling in a total of 63 catches for 1,140 yards and five touchdowns. He averaged 18.1 yards per reception, an increase of almost three yards per catch from his rookie season. While he only averaged just 0.6 more receptions per game (3.7 in 2023 versus 3.1 as a rookie), he averaged 20 more yards per game (67.1 this season versus 47.1 in 2022).
However, there were plenty of issues that did not show up on a stat sheet for Pickens. The early-season offensive struggles took an apparent toll on Pickens. He himself had three 100-yard games during the first six weeks, but the team struggled to produce points. And really those struggles continued through most of the season until QB Mason Rudolph took over as the starter for Week 15 against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Those struggles led to a lot of questions about Pickens, Tomlin, and the Steelers as a whole. In all, Pickens only had double-digit targets three times in 2023 while he had six games of five targets or less. Was it the Steelers letting Pickens down? Or was Pickens not working hard enough on the field?
All that boiled over during the Steelers’ Week 14 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Just three weeks prior, the Steelers had defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 16-10 to climb to 7-4. Then they lost back-to-back games to 2-10 teams, the Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots. The Steelers were facing what most people considered a must-win game against the Colts, and they fell flat on their face in a 30-13 loss.
Unfortunately for Pickens, the most enduring memory of that game was a Jaylen Warren run where Pickens did not show any real effort to block near the goal line. Warren was tackled short of the end zone on what most people thought should have been a sure touchdown, and Pickens was blasted for the lack of effort. He didn’t help matters with his explanation, saying he “ain’t want to get an injury.” We’ve all seen defensive players called out for making “business decisions” when it comes to tackling big players, and that same backlash fell on Pickens.
Despite the struggles, Tomlin still backed Pickens to start the following week against the Bengals. That caught a lot of flak from the media, with former NFL G Damien Woody saying that Tomlin “was siding with talent over the standards.” It was getting ugly for everyone involved. So how did Pickens and Tomlin respond against the Bengals?
Pickens simply caught four passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns, the best receiving game by a Steelers wide receiver since the 2017 season. The tune changed really quick both in Pittsburgh and nationally. The elite, game-changing wide receiver was back. He then followed that up with a seven-catch, 131-yard performance against the Seattle Seahawks the following week.
While the 2023 season may have been a roller coaster for Pickens and the Steelers overall, Tomlin feels quite good about where his mercurial yet elite wide receiver is mentally. If that holds true for 2024 with a new offensive coordinator calling the shots and improved quarterback play, Pickens should be in line for another big year.
