Pittsburgh Steelers WR George Pickens was tabbed to be a breakout start heading into the 2023 NFL season. Unfortunately, the Steelers’ offensive struggles put a bit of a damper on that. That resulted in Pickens having a rollercoaster of a season. He appeared to be on the outs with the Steelers after the Indianapolis Colts game. Then he went off for almost 200 yards and two touchdowns the following week against the Cincinnati Bengals.
DL Cam Heyward is one of the veteran leaders on the Steelers and he’s seen a lot in his time. When he joined the Green Light Podcast with Chris and Kyle Long on Thursday, he was asked about Pickens.
“We tell him, ‘ We’re riding with you, dude,'” Heyward said. “It may not be pretty. Shoot, we all mess up. We just bounce back from it…We’re never gonna turn on you, we just want you to be great.”
There’s a stereotype that top wide receivers are divas. We’ve seen it in Pittsburgh before with Antonio Brown and there are plenty of other examples throughout the league. After some of his behavior this season, Pickens has drawn that comparison.
That doesn’t mean Pickens isn’t a valued member of the Steelers. In fact, based on Heyward’s comments, it appears that Pickens is viewed as someone who can be great. It’s easy to understand that through two seasons.
Pickens has appeared in all 34 regular-season games since the Steelers selected him in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft, starting 28 of those games. He has 115 catches for 1,941 yards with 16.9 yards per reception and nine touchdowns. In 2023 alone, Pickens led the NFL with 18.1 yards per catch, the first time a Steelers wide receiver has done that since Mike Wallace in 2009. All that despite the struggles of an offense implemented by former offensive coordinator Matt Canada and three different starting quarterbacks.
After the Colts game, a debacle for just about everyone involved, Pickens was thrust into the spotlight in a negative way. It was mostly through his own actions (or inaction on the goal line) that got him there. Despite all the clamor in the media, head coach Mike Tomlin stuck by the young wide receiver. Apparently, so did the locker room.
The Steelers need Pickens to be at the top of his game in order to right the ship on offense. Part of Pickens being at the top of the game is weathering the storms of being a young NFL player. Having the support of veteran leaders like Heyward can be a big help in that regard.
You can watch the entire show with Heyward below:
