With plenty of speculation about why George Pickens saw a reduction in snaps during Sunday’s loss against the Dallas Cowboys and our study showing he hardly played in “big” personnel groupings, it’s fair to wonder how the Steelers value Pickens as a blocker. Mike Tomlin says it’s low on the list of things they ask out of him.
“He’s a backside one-on-one matchup guy,” Tomlin said Tuesday during his weekly press conference via the team’s YouTube channel. “So oftentimes he’s not at the point of attack in the blocking game. Blocking responsibilities within our scheme are more handled by guys like Van Jefferson, to be quite honest with you. If you want [a] transparent answer.”
As we noted today, Pickens played in only two of 26 snaps on Sunday in which the team used multiple tight ends. Coming into the Cowboys game, Pickens had logged only a little over half of those snaps.
On paper, Pickens looks like an apt blocker. He’s big, and at his best is known for putting unsuspecting cornerbacks on their butt.
But his overall blocking has been suspect, and the effort and attention to detail haven’t always been there. For what it’s worth, Pro Football Focus has Pickens with a middling 57.3 run-blocking grade this season, ranking 55th out of 135 qualifying receivers. However, it’s better than Van Jefferson (75th overall) and Calvin Austin III, graded as one of the worst blockers in the league at 100th place.
While the data supports Tomlin’s answer about Pickens reduced playing time, his answer is harder to come to grips with here. Run blocking can and should involve everyone and though Pickens may not the closest receiver to the action, there are certainly times where his blocking is important. Or becomes important over the course of a play, a running back who bounces a run, a play where Justin Fields takes off on a zone read or RPO and tries to make something happen.
New WRs coach Zach Azzanni preaches everyone blocking and contributing. Ditto with OC Arthur Smith. And Pickens needs to be examined there no matter how big or small that role is.
