Former Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger Said George Pickens Went From Seeming Effortless To Potentially Setting Records

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver, George Pickens has gone through the gambit of emotions this season. He has been very vocal about how frustrated he is with the amount of targets he has received, not feeling that his unique talents are being utilized. Pickens' sideline tantrums and comments to the media has the fans calling for him to be cut. The media has even labeled him as a "cancer" to the team. Former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had some harsh words regarding Pickens' behavior as well. Now, Roethlisberger has said he is willing to eat some crow.

Pickens has been a polarizing figure since being selected in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft. He came out of the University of Georgia with some questions regarding his attitude. Steelers fans who were hesitant about him were quickly won over as they saw him making exceptional, contested catches along the sidelines. It is almost like Pickens has magnets in his hands; he has a way of catching the ball over his back shoulder where only he can get it. 

Those catches weren't enough to keep him in the sweetheart spotlight, however. As the team worked to figure out who would replace Roethlisberger, Pickens started to break down a bit. After Head Coach Mike Tomlin benched initial 2022 starter Mitch Trubisky and played the then-rookie Kenny Pickett, Pickens felt he wasn't getting the targets he should've and we saw him begin to display his aggravations. 

Steelers' George Pickens Silences The Haters

This has continued into this season and Pickens has been seen once again throwing tantrums. Then fans and the media caught him displaying minimal effort during games, including the straw that broke the camel's back, the non-block for teammate Jaylen Warren. After the game, Pickens lost more respect when he said he didn't block because he was trying to avoid injury. 

Fans went wild with frustration, saying that Pickens should be benched or cut. When asked during his press conferences, Tomlin was typically close-mouthed about it. He said that the team was handling the Pickens situation internally, but did add that there is work to be done on maturity. 

To be fair to Pickens, the entire offense has been inconsistent this season. The offensive line appears to have taken a step back, which is hard to imagine given how terrible they have been the past few seasons. Pickett was injured and backup Trubisky was not able to get the job done. This led to Tomlin choosing to start longtime backup Mason Rudolph. 

The Week 16 game against the Cincinnati Bengals was a night of redemption for Rudolph as well as for Pickens. It gave them both the opportunity to silence their critics. 

On a recent episode of his podcast, Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger, the 2x Super Bowl champion and his co-host Spencer Te'o talked about Rudolph and Pickens' incredible connection. While Pickens may not have had the most targets, the ones he had were meaningful and game-changing. Roethlisberger thinks that Pickens will have folks in a place where they have to eat their words. 

"I talked about George after a week of not blocking, everyone wanted to get rid of him and bench him, and now he may set NFL records 'cause he was on pace for some crazy stuff," said Roethlisberger.

He said that Pickens had to be thinking, "How ya like me now" after making such a big difference during that Bengals game. Pickens had only four catches, but they were for 195 yards and two touchdowns. He averaged 48.8 yards per catch with a long of 86 yards. 

Pickens certainly seemed to be Rudolph's favorite target. While he didn't have the most catches (Warren did with five), he had the most yardage by far. While the Steelers haven't addressed definitively who will start on New Year's Eve against the Seattle Seahawks, it feels like there is a good chance Rudolph might get the nod. He certainly has put up the best quarterback play in the past two seasons. 

One thing that keeps coming up is that if Pickens were to play as well as he should, then some of his behavior would be easier to tolerate. We have seen Pittsburgh put up with diva behaviors with players like Antonio Brown. The difference is Brown put up numbers while Pickens hasn't as consistently. It doesn't matter if he is to blame for the poor performances or not. 

What do you think about Pickens and/or Roethlisberger's comments? Click to comment below.

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