Pittsburgh Steelers WR George Pickens played under 60 percent of the team’s snaps last Sunday, atypical for a top target. It is a complete outlier in his three-year career, so of course it drew attention. Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith insists that he isn’t quite sure why as he tried to explain.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Pickens said that it was up to Smith to play him more. Smith instead zoomed out rather than in when asked about his receiver’s comments, noting his history with other receivers. He also pointed out that the Steelers’ history of WR1 playing time isn’t his history.
George Pickens “still played the majority of the snap counts, all those critical downs”, Smith said, via Steelers transcript. “You’re talking a one-game sample size of things, and I don’t know the historical record here. I don’t know what philosophically changed. Maybe there were certain wideouts that played 100 percent of the snaps. Usually that doesn’t happen, and you do have outliers”.
Look at most bona fide top receivers and you’ll see that they often play 100 percent, or close to it. That isn’t universally true, but very few, while healthy, ever fall below 60 percent. It is precisely because of the novelty that Pickens’ playing time is such a topic.
Who made the decision to play Pickens a certain amount is an element of that conversation, which Smith addressed. He said that all such decisions are collaborative, from Mike Tomlin down, and with the players. Tomlin said on Tuesday that Pickens expressed no concerns about his usage because they explained it all to him.
“It’s probably a reaction to how the game went, to be honest with you, but that hasn’t been the case this year”, Smith said. “Sunday night was a little bit of an outlier, small possessions, things situationally to set up, tried to attack them, didn’t hit the big plays. Everybody’s got different perceptions [about Pickens’ usage], and I get it. When you lose, it’s the stuff that usually happens”.
It’s true that these things tend to generate more discussion amid losses. Would we care nearly as much if George Pickens had barely played in a Steelers win? Probably not, because what we do after losses is look for fixes.
And given that Pickens is the Steelers’ best wide receiver, it would seem logical to have him on the field. He is the one who can most consistently make plays, even if he is prone to his share of mistakes. He had a frustrating dropped pass on third down last Sunday. Yet he played in all of the Steelers’ 11 personnel groupings in obvious passing situations, a point Smith made.
Now, the question is what percentage of snaps Pickens plays moving forward. Smith knows people are going to be making careful note of exactly that tomorrow. Not that he can let that dictate how to run the offense, but he can’t not be aware of it either.
