Former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Merril Hoge is never one to mince words. He never hesitates to call out Steelers players he feels are either underperforming or acting out. During the 2023 season, he called WR George Pickens “very immature” after the Tennessee Titans win, adding that the Steelers would not “build championships with people like” Pickens.
Fast forward to Thursday’s edition of the PM Team on 93.7 The Fan, and Hoge had thoughts on Pickens again. This time, his comments were more focused on the growth and potential than slamming the young wide receiver.
“He’s going in the right direction,” Hoge said. “He’s still a young kid. There are a lot of things that take place in the development of really being a good pro. Sometimes it just takes some players longer than others. And oftentimes, the more gifted ones, it can take them a lot longer, or they never get it, just because they are so talented and they don’t realize talent alone is not gonna help you win a championship or make you great. Once they started to play, had a little more structure with their offense, a little more success, George Pickens gave more evidence that he has the ability to develop into a good pro.”
Now, Hoge isn’t exactly declaring that now Pickens is the poster child for the perfect teammate. However, what we do know is that Pickens went on a wild ride last season. There was a lot of what turned out to be false hope from the preseason that the offense was going to take the next step. The offense instead struggled, and for the majority of the season, the passing game was sluggish at best.
So George Pickens, who many expected to break out in 2023, began to chafe. There were the issues at the end of the Titans game that Hoge originally called out. Then there was the infamous goal-line play in the loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Pickens had an opportunity to block his man for a potential Jaylen Warren touchdown and did not. The media exploded, with even some calling for head coach Mike Tomlin to bench Pickens.
Instead, Tomlin did what he does and worked with the young wide receiver. Rather than sitting him, Tomlin kept Pickens in the starting lineup against the Cincinnati Bengals the very next week. With QB Mason Rudolph starting, all Pickens did was catch four passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns. He followed that with a seven-catch, 131-yard performance against the Seattle Seahawks.
However, Pickens arguably showed the most growth in Week 18 against the Baltimore Ravens in the elements. He was not targeted a single time. Yet even Rudolph, the very quarterback who did not throw a single pass in Pickett’s direction, had nothing but praise for the wide receiver.
“He blocked hard all day,” Rudolph said after the Steelers’ 17-10 win. “And he was excited for his teammates, and that was awesome to see.”
So does that mean Pickens will be a model citizen from here to eternity? Absolutely not, and no one should expect anyone to be perfect. These players are human beings, first and foremost. However, it’s still encouraging to see that George Pickens went into a must-win game against a divisional rival and did not get targeted once but through it all he worked hard and was a fantastic teammate.
Even Hoge noticed it and commended the growth.
