Pittsburgh Steelers WR George Pickens is once again facing heavy scrutiny, the football world waiting to see how he responds. From his “Always Fucking Open” eye black to his lazy routes to his continued tantrums and refusal to speak to reporters, we are back where we don’t want to be with this talented young man: talking about everything but football. Even showing up late to meetings.
This has become an annual tradition, Pickens facing calls for his benching a year ago, for example. Instead of benching him or even curbing his playing time, however, the Steelers did the opposite. They unleashed him, and he had a career game against the Bengals with four catches for 195 yards and two touchdowns. Former NFL GM Doug Whaley expects to see the same kind of response from this year’s adversity.
“They’re gonna feed him the rock and he’s gonna go off”, he said of George Pickens on 93.7 The Fan. “Just like he did last year, and he had that big game [after his low moment]. I think [Mike] Tomlin, after saying that, ‘Alright, everybody’s doubting you. This is the time so show them why you’re here’.
“That’s what I would tell [Pickens] if I was Tomlin. I would go right into Arthur Smith, ‘Everybody’s doubting him. Why not feed him the rock? Why not feed him the rock so that we can find out about the quarterback and the receiver? Let’s get some answers’”.
A 2022 second-round pick out of Georgia, George Pickens has been a mixed bag of highlight-reel catches and headaches. Much like former Steelers WR Antonio Brown, we’re now talking about how much nonsense is worth putting up with relative to the production.
So far, Pickens’ nonsense hasn’t reached Brown levels, but neither has his talent. He only has nine career receiving touchdowns and hasn’t found the end zone yet this year. Through five games, he has 23 catches on 36 targets for 310 yards. While he had a touchdown taken away by penalty, he has also had multiple drops.
Just two games ago, Pickens caught 7 passes on 11 targets for 113 yards, all season highs. But he only caught three of seven last time out for 26 yards. And the Steelers only played him on 59 percent of their offensive snaps, which has generated immense debate.
It’s fair to say the young wide receiver is under the microscope right now, but this isn’t new to him. The fact that it isn’t is not a good thing, but we have seen him respond positively before. Getting the best out of George Pickens is a test of Mike Tomlin’s ability to coach boys into men. Many would argue that he is failing in that respect right now. But at some point Pickens has to be responsible for himself.
