Steelers' George Pickens Not Falling For Outside Excitement In 2023: "I'm Playing Madden, Bro"

The Pittsburgh Steelers are finally in regular-season mode. The dust of another competitive training camp has settled, the roster has been finalized, and the team has their sights set on their opening day opponent in the San Francisco 49ers. For the Steelers, the preseason circuit had a noticeably amplified sense to it. After a busy offseason of musical chairs and a complete, dare I say, reconstruction of several areas of the depth chart, the team looked to be in midseason form as the calendar flipped to September.

One of the brightest spots on the roster is the rejuvenated offensive unit. Second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett was the definition of perfect in each of his five series in preseason action. On the other end of that success is fellow second-year wide receiver George Pickens who is slated to take a major leap forward in his development in 2023. After posting over 800 receiving yards with four touchdowns in his rookie season last year, Pickens tallied 76-yards and a touchdown on three receptions in his limited preseason action. The fact Pickens was able to breach roughly 10 percent of his entire 2022 season production in limited series’ action heading into the regular season is a major indicator of high expectations for the 22-year-old pass catcher in 2023.

Before the team saw any formal preseason games, Pickens was already putting up incredible tape out of training camp. He was able to square off against veteran new-comer Patrick Peterson and rookie standout Joey Porter Jr. in one-on-one drills. In doing so, he showed off his athleticism by making unreal one-handed, leaping catches that caught the eyes of fans, players, and coaches across the entire league. Even though it was just a practice session, everyone was able to catch an early glimpse of how much of an offensive weapon Pickens is going to be. That is, seemingly everyone except for the professional ranking adjusters at Electronic Arts Sports (EA Sports) in their design for the current Madden 24 video game.

Steelers' George Pickens Hears The Noise, But Plays Madden Instead

With all the hype Pickens has conjured up from around the football world, it is easy to lose sight of the bigger picture of actually winning games. Head Coach Mike Tomlin proclaimed earlier this week that he does not care about the outside noise and only cares about the 53 men inside of the locker room. While Tomlin has held that precedent for his entire career, the younger players may need time to adjust to that mindset early in their careers.

For Pickens, the noise gets louder and louder after each game he plays. That is a simple testament to how incredible he is on the field. But with that said, Pickens isn’t falling for the proverbial mirage of hype surrounding him heading into the season. Sure, it is loud enough to hear, but Pickens needs to have tunnel vision in this profession. After the team’s practice heading into their first game, Pickens told Chris Adamski of TribLIVE.com how he turns away from all the noise.

“I don’t really pay too much attention to it to be honest,” he said in front of his locker. “I’m playing Madden, bro, so I don’t really pay too much attention to it, but I for sure see it. I for sure hear people saying that, but I just keep working.”

That increase of noise can be heard from almost every media outlet in the country following football. Pickens’ name has been flying up fantasy football general managers’ draft boards and artificial intelligence-driven projections see him as one of the premier receivers in the league. This news seems to have missed the desks of the development team at Madden when rolling out the newest edition of the annual game.

In last year’s edition of Madden, Madden 23, Pickens was awarded an overall rating of 74 out of 100. Being a second-round rookie at the time, that rating made some sense after their evaluation. However, the newest edition posts a Pickens rating of 80 put of 100. As Pickens is trying to shelter himself from all the outside noise, that Madden rating is hard for him to ignore. He continued to explain his frustrations to Adamski.

"Yea, that’s a little too low. Way too low. I’m an 80, bro. Should be like an 89, 90 at least."

For reference, a couple other receivers who Madden has rated higher than Pickens are Curtis Samuel (82) and Michael Thomas (84). Samuel only posted 656 receiving yards in 2022 and Thomas only played three games last season and is coming off a tumultuous year. To say that Pickens is a level above that is very much in-line with real-life statistics.

It is no secret that Pickens is poised to explode in 2023. The connection he’s been able to create with Pickett is something that is highly sought after, yet difficult to establish. As we inch our way towards the first game of the new campaign, the hype surrounding Pickens and the offense should be considered very much a real thing. Pickens is smart in following Tomlin’s guidance and tuning down the outside noise. But once he starts posting numbers and sits towards the top of key performance category rankings, fans can be on a lookout for a refreshed Madden rating later in the season.

What numbers do you think Pickens will post in 2023? What do you think his Madden rating should be? Let us know in the comments below!

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