Steelers' George Pickens Is Critical Of The Way He's Being Used: "I Can't Really Produce That Way"

The Pittsburgh Steelers' offense has been under scrutiny for about the last four years. One of the most frustrating things about the way the Steelers have been operating offensively is the lack of an effort to get their best players the football. George Pickens, who is one of the most physically gifted receivers in the league and has extremely reliable hands, has yet to have a game with over five receptions in 2023. He has had five games with three or less catches. In a recent interview with Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pickens criticized how he has been used in the offense. 

Pickens has made many splash plays this season, and it always seems to be a good result when he is targeted down the field. Despite that, he is not being used as a down field threat. Instead, he has been forced to run shallow routes, which don't allow him to be the playmaker that he truly is. Pickens was recipient of a lot of preseason hype, and he was poised to have a breakout year with Pittsburgh. However, the way he has been utilized has led to disappointment when it comes to his production.

"I don't know, you guys be at practice, right? I would just say I hope to see things like that. When it's routes like that, I mean, I can't really produce that way, running five-yard routes, three-yard routes."

Pickens didn't receive a single down field target in the Steelers' Week 14 loss to the New England Patriots, and all of his routes were run extremely close to the line of scrimmage. Even on the Steelers' fourth down attempt late in the game, Mitch Trubisky threw a deep pass to Diontae Johnson, which wound up being incomplete. Although Johnson has seen some success in the deep passing game this season, it would make more sense to go to Pickens in a situation like that, due to his ability to high-point the football and make catches over defenders.

Steelers' Pickens Is No Stranger To Showing Emotion

Pickens has shown frustration at times during the Steelers 2023 season, and a lot of that is making sense now that fans are beginning to see how poorly he is being used on the offensive side of the ball. Pickens spoke more about how he always has the same goal, and how he approaches every play with the same mindset of making a play. 

"I'm just running my routes to get open, I don't really worry about personnel or who's the quarterback or the situation. I'm still doing what George does, get open and catch the ball and score. That's all I wanna do."

Pickens has the most targets and receptions out of any receiver on the Steelers this year, but that was with Johnson missing a large chunk of time due to an injury at the beginning of the season. Since Johnson's return, Pickens has had a game with just one reception, which was a touchdown, and a game with negative receiving yards on just two catches. Pickens has shown his frustrations before, and it is crucial the Steelers start to find a way to get him more involved within the offense.

The Steelers now begin one of the toughest stretches of the season, with each game growing in importance as six teams in the AFC have a record of 7-6 and the three Wild Card spots being a tight race. All of the Steelers remaining games in 2023 are must-win if they want to earn a spot in the playoffs, and they will be playing most of those games with a back-up quarterback. Pickens needs to be a focal point of the offense if they plan to make the playoffs and win the rest of these crucial games. 

What do you think of Pickens' comments? Let us know in the comment section below!

#SteelerNation