NFL Insider Says Steelers Should Make George Pickens Inactive In Week 16 For His Continued Child-Like Behavior

The Pittsburgh Steelers are in a critical part of their season entering a divisional showdown with the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday afternoon. George Pickens is the team's leading receiver with 814 yards on 52 receptions, but has also been a leading cause of headaches with his constant lack of maturity and poor effort when things aren't going his way. As the Steelers look for answers to try and get through to the talented, but frustrating receiver, NBC Sports NFL Insider, Peter King said he thinks part of the solution is sitting him for the contest against the Bengals. 

The respected long-time writer and journalist joined The Cook and Joe Show on Tuesday for his regular weekly appearance on the program. He didn't hold back in his criticism of Pickens' latest actions. At the end of the segment, King said if it were his call, the 2022 second-round pick would be made inactive for the Steelers' last game before Christmas, even knowing how important this game is. 

"What George Pickens is doing right now is absolutely totally unacceptable," King said. "You [the team] have to figure out is George Pickens savable. He's got such great talent that I think everybody wants to say, 'Well you can't do anything with George Pickens because he's just so good. If he went somewhere else, he'd turn into the second coming of Randy Moss.' I don't really care about how great he can be or should be. I care about how great he is right now and he isn't because there are plays where he absolutely dogs it."

Even if the Steelers wanted to try to move him, it sounds like there might not be much of a market for him. Respected NFL reporter for CBS Sports, Aditi Kinkhabwala said recently that back in 2022 when Pickens was in the draft, she had multiple conversations with teams that moved Pickens off of their draft boards due to the maturity questions, despite thinking he might be one of the most talented players in the receiver class that year. So even if the Steelers wanted to move him, there's no way a team that moved him off their draft board due to character questions is going to pay premium assets for a guy who has done nothing but prove those suspicions right so far. 

Pickens has immense talent and when thrust fully into the number one receiver role when Diontae Johnson was out with a hamstring injury, he stepped up to the plate. In Week 2 against the Cleveland Browns, he showcased that talent by turning a catch-and-run ball from Kenny Pickett into a 71-yard touchdown to go with three other receptions for 127 yards. In a tough divisional game against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 5, he played the hero catching a 41-yard touchdown from Pickett to give the team a 14-10 lead with 1:17 left to go in the game. 

The unfortunate thing for Pickens is that all the good things he does are being overshadowed by the bad, as the team goes through an offensive slump. The lack of effort blocking against the Indianapolis Colts on a play that could've been a touchdown for Jaylen Warren, or his pouting while the rest of the team helped Johnson celebrate his first touchdown since 2021 when he scored against the Tennessee Titans, have become bigger stories than his success. Not to forget all the antics with social media. 

Steelers Organization And George Pickens Can Learn Something Here

Perhaps, Head Coach Mike Tomlin thought that with all the headaches he's dealt with at wide receiver over the years (see Antonio Brown's case for the poster child), he thought that he could be the one to iron out the maturity questions. So far, despite him saying he's had a good conversation with Pickens about fixing things, nothing has changed. 

During their conversation, the topic of whether former Steelers receiver Hines Ward should get into the Hall of Fame came up, and Ron Cook asked King if Pickens could learn something from him. 

"George Pickens can learn something from a lot of people. That just really bothers me about the Steelers right now. How do you draft a guy that high who so many teams had questions about off the field and now you’re seeing why they had those questions? I know it's not over. It can be salvaged." 

The Steelers are going to have to figure out a better way to get through to Pickens, if said saving of Pickens is going to happen. For the team's sake, they'd better hope it works because otherwise, it's an incredible waste of talent.     

Do you think Pittsburgh can fix Pickens? Would you bench him against the Bengals? Comment below!   

#SteelerNation