Player: WR George Pickens
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: On the whole, George Pickens ended the season the way he needed to on an individual level. While the Steelers lost in Baltimore, Pickens did his part and seemed to handle himself maturely in the process. What that signifies, if anything, is anybody’s guess, and I’m sure there will be plenty of guessing.
In the final game of his third season, George Pickens caught five passes on fight targets for 87 yards. Those 87 yards included a 36-yard touchdown in which he made the final defender miss with a nifty move. Were it not for an offensive pass interference penalty that took away another big catch, he would have had a nearly perfect day.
Of course, even with that catch that didn’t hold up, the Steelers likely lose, and comfortably so. They trailed by multiple touchdowns for most of the game, and Pickens couldn’t do much about it. He didn’t see his first target of the game until about 26 minutes in. That was his only official target of the first half, though he also had the deep catch negated by penalty.
In the second half, the Steelers looked for George Pickens four times, and he came up with each opportunity. Considering the fact that he saw six targets last week and caught just one, it was very much a needed get-right game at a critical point in his career.
You see, Pickens is entering his proverbial “contract year”, and one that might not be so standard. There is reason to believe the Steelers will contemplate his future carefully, and whether it is in Pittsburgh. Do they want to commit a large sum of money and years to him, and if not, then what? Would they dare attempt to let him play out his rookie contract? Or would they prefer to unload him via trade, regardless of what he means to their offense?
Quite frankly, I have no read whatsoever on what the Steelers will do with Pickens. I could see them going in any of the directions outlined above, and I don’t think they even know yet. There needs to be quite a thorough post-mortem this offseason, with tough questions and hard decisions to follow. Among them is George Pickens and what his future looks like—and where.
As the season progresses, Steelers players’ stocks rise and fall. The nature of the evaluation differs with the time of year, with in-season considerations being more often short-term. Considerations in the offseason often have broader implications, particularly when players lose their jobs, or the team signs someone. This time of year is full of transactions, whether minor or major.
A bad game, a new contract, an injury, a promotion—any number of things affect a player’s value. Think of it as a stock on the market, based on speculation. You’ll feel better about a player after a good game, or worse after a bad one. Some stock updates are minor, while others are likely to be quite drastic, so bear in mind the degree. I’ll do my best to explain the nature of that in the reasoning section of each column.
