It’s the time of year when George Pickens becomes the center of Steelers discussion for the wrong reasons. And it’s less about his eye black or others’ facemasks leaping into his hands. No, this time the subject is something he has no control over: his playing time.
Pickens played under 60 percent of the Steelers’ snaps on Sunday, and few buy Mike Tomlin’s explanation. He insists that, despite it being a career low and well outside Pickens’ norm, it’s all part of a standard rotational process. While he admitted that Pickens’ efforts on his routes were a factor in wanting to manage his snaps more, he painted the prettiest picture he could to explain it.
And he insists that Pickens has no problem with it. Asked on Tuesday if the third-year wide receiver has expressed any concern about his reduced workload, Tomlin said, “No he has not because it’s been explained to him”, via the team’s website. So he doesn’t mind sitting on the bench 40 percent of the time, or at least understands why, I guess.
Alex Kozora offered his considered thoughts on this subject. He points out that George Pickens did play on all of the team’s 11 personnel snaps against the Cowboys and that his snap ratio in heavier personnel packages was at least not statistically significantly less than can be explained within a reasonable margin for error.
Maybe he is right. It’s hard to know until we see what happens next week, and the week after next. One possible explanation is the fact that Tomlin and the Steelers simply don’t see Pickens helping them in heavier sets. And that in itself isn’t a good thing—nor explicitly a bad thing. He was supposed to be this tough, physical blocker, but I guess that doesn’t matter anymore.
Tomlin continually struck on the point that his changing is thinking about player rotations, even citing playing Cameron Heyward less in 2024 than he might have even last year. This season, he has already allowed for a rotation at multiple offensive line positions, but that was a competitive environment. Pickens is just sitting on the bench to save up his energy…or something.
“I’m just more sensitive to that broader discussion. I’m sure I played Cam more last year than I’m playing them this year, for example”, Tomlin said. But, of course, Heyward was injured last year. To his point, though, Heyward did play 75 percent of the snaps in 2022, the lowest of his career as a starter.
But what Tomlin is doing with George Pickens, or at least what he is claiming, is extremely atypical. You don’t see other No. 1 receivers spending 40 percent of games on the bench, and this isn’t theoretical. Anybody can look up snap percentages. Even Brandon Aiyuk, who didn’t take part in the offseason, is at 79 percent. And that is weighted down from only playing 60 percent in the 49ers’ opener after having not practiced all summer.
But, hey, if Pickens is fine with it, who am I to question it? I’m open ****ing always to new ideas.
