The Pittsburgh Steelers, under the leadership of quarterback Kenny Pickett, managed to pull off a tremendous win over the Tennessee Titans during their Week 9 Thursday night match-up. The Steelers offense has looked inconsistent most of the 2023 season, so it was promising to see them come together and present a more balanced look. After the game, Pickett spoke to the media and said there is one person on that offense who isn't getting enough credit, wide receiver George Pickens.
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Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett (#8) and wide receiver George Pickens (#14) are looking to make the leap in 2023.
Pickens has been the center of some controversy both for his seeming lack of targets and for some of his "antics." During his postgame press conference, Pickett was asked about Pickens and what they have to do as an offense to get him more involved—during the game against the Titans, Pickens had only two catches for negative one yard. Pickett responded in defense of his teammate.
"You know, continue to move him around, you know, but he's going to get doubled a lot, and that's why you see Diontae [Johnson] gets singled up. Credit to him [Pickens], the run game is opening up because of him. There are a lot of things that he's not getting credit for right now in the stat sheet, but he's helping us win football games. He's helping us have a lot of successful plays so you definitely want to reward him. I wish we'd hit that one in the red zone on the fade."
Pickens made a name for himself during his 2022 rookie year, after being drafted by the Steelers in the second round, for making incredible contested catches. During his rookie season, he started 12 of 17 games and was targeted 84 times. He had 52 receptions for 801 yards and four touchdowns.
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Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens makes a one-handed catch with Cleveland Browns cornerback Martin Emerson Jr. defending in Week 3 of the 2022 NFL regular season.
He has started all eight games in the 2023 season and has been targeted 58 times. He's had 30 receptions for 521 yards and three touchdowns. However, fans and analysts are critical of the way the Steelers are using Pickett. Most feel that the biggest hindrance to Pickens' game is the fact that the team isn't getting him the ball enough.
The blame for that, and almost everything else, is directed toward Offensive Coordinator Matt Canada. At times Pickens appears to be wide open, especially since Diontae Johnson returned from his injury. During the Week 8 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, Johnson was targeted 14 times and Pickens was only targeted five times.
It is a "why can't we have both" issue more than being anti-Johnson. They are different receivers and the offense needs to develop schemes that incorporate both of them. This is especially true because as Pickett pointed out, one of them is often double-teamed. The offense also seems to favor an unusual pass with Pickens, where he catches the ball over his back shoulder. While he is very good at getting these kinds of passes, they are dangerous and it surprises many that they use it so often.
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Steelers' George Pickens and Mitch Trubisky celebrate the lone touchdown in Week 8 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
During that same game against Jacksonville, Pickett was injured and backup Mitch Trubisky took over under center. Trubisky managed to connect with Pickens for the single touchdown that Pittsburgh would score. Pickens did an incredible job breaking tackles as he ran towards the end zone. It sounds like Pickett is seeing some of what we see and feeling like they need to get him more involved.
"Continue to try and get him the football as many ways as we can, but definitely want to appreciate him for what he does, the defense that it opens up, and everything else."
Hopefully, now that Johnson is back, the defenses will struggle to decide which incredible receiver needs to be doubled up. Having two weapons like that on offense should open up the passing game a bit and thus help support the run game, which as Pickett points out, is better when Pickens is involved.
Steelers' George Pickens Needs To Play More And Talk Less
Head Coach Mike Tomlin is well known for a saying he has about passionate players. He always says that he "would rather say 'whoa' than 'sic 'em,'" but there are others who disagree. They would rather Pickens talk a bit less and let his work on the field speak for him.
Coming out of the University of Georgia, Pickens fell a bit in the draft due in part to injury, but also because he was outspoken on the sideline defending his teammates. Many saw it as a sign of immaturity. During the Week 7 game against the Los Angeles Rams, he was assessed a 15-yard penalty for taunting after the play was over. Then before the Jacksonville game, he made some quippy comments that drew him quite a bit of ridicule from Jaguars players after the Steelers lost, and Pickens was mostly ineffective.
This isn't new for the Steelers, they have dealt with plenty of dramatic wide receivers including Antonio Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Chase Claypool, and Plaxico Burress. The good thing is the Steelers excel at reigning in unruly players, the bad news is that Canada does not excel at using talented receivers.
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Former Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown managed to mostly contain the drama while in Pittsburgh.
While Pickens' stat sheet might tell a different tale, it was clear that he was a big part of the larger offensive scheme, and as Pickett said, he made a difference. The hope is that they somehow figure out quickly how to maximize Pickens' potential.
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