A lot has been said about the Steelers and George Pickens this week. Once again, both find themselves in the spotlight for all of the wrong reasons. Pickens had a weird choice of eye paint, to say the least, and his overall play was lackluster. Pittsburgh, meanwhile, put their top receiver on a snap count despite the passing game struggles. It is a bad look all around, and fans are getting tired of it.
Naturally, the anger and blame is mostly falling onto Pickens. Fans have quickly turned on him this year and are getting fed up with him. Personally, I don’t condone his on-the-field antics. The eye paint is a poor choice and his seemingly taking plays off is concerning. That all said, Pickens has a valid reason to be upset, and his side of the story seems to be rarely covered.
While some people are claiming he isn’t a great talent, that is purely because they have turned against him because of his antics. When given the chance, Pickens has proven to be a great receiver with the potential to be elite if put in the right system. The Steelers haven’t done that during his career, and he has a right to be upset.
The Steelers have handicapped Pickens
The team strapped Pickens to Kenny Pickett for the first two years of his career. Even with one of the worst starting quarterbacks in the league, Pickens still made a name for himself with his highlight reel catches and big games. He seemed poised to break out this year in a better scheme with a better quarterback room. The timing was perfect for him as well, as he is eligible for a new contract next year.
Instead, his start to this season has been slow. He has one game over 100 yards and is only on pace for 1054 yards receiving. He also hasn’t found the end zone. Notably missing this season has been the big plays. He has had a couple of huge plays taken away because of penalties, but his play seems more muted than usual.
This all culminated in the Cowboys game, where the Steelers put him on a snap count and he had a miserable day from an effort standpoint. Pittsburgh isn’t managing him well right now, and it is costing them. The passing game has been miserable this year, and Pickens has been the lone receiver to play well. Instead of building around that, the team is now limiting Pickens opportunity to make an impact.
Why George Pickens is right to be upset
The NFL is full of personalities. At this point, if you can’t manage big heads, you aren’t going to be a successful coach. Take former Steelers receiver Antonio Brown, for example. We all saw how his career ended, but Pittsburgh got the most out of him. For a stretch, he was the best receiver in the league and a dynamic weapon for this team.
He also had a big head, as apparent later on in his career. The Steelers made sure to manage that though, and it allowed them to keep a great talent happy and on the field. This meant scheming plays to get the ball in his hands. No one had issues there, and it also got the ball in the best player's hands.
The rest of the league does this still. While elite players naturally get open and make plays, teams also scheme plays to get the ball into their hands. Justin Jefferson is a great example, as the Vikings will scheme up specific plays to get him open and catching passes. The Steelers, meanwhile, are taking their best receiving weapon off the field.
I genuinely believe that based on talent alone, Pickens is pushing the top ten receivers in the league. He has yet to produce like that though because of a lot of factors around him. Again, that doesn’t excuse his lack of effort and outbursts, but this game is his livelihood. He only has a few chances to hit it big.
He is obviously confident in himself, which you want in a receiver. His immaturity has caused issues, but he also wants to be an impact player. The Steelers haven’t given him the chance to do that consistently. Now they are at a crossroads and are still screwing things up with this snap count decision.
Pittsburgh has to make a decision on Pickens soon. He will want a big deal next year, and if he doesn’t get one things will only get uglier. To this point, the team has failed to manage his ego. If he is truly unmanageable, then you need to trade him, just as you did with Brown a few years ago.
However, trying to scheme some plays around getting your best offensive weapon the ball could alleviate these issues. Pickens gets his shot at proving that he is elite, and it certainly can’t negatively impact the passing game right now. If Pickens is as good as he believes himself to be, he can have the chance to prove it.
The thing that they can’t do is continue this bogus snap count idea. Either learn how to manage Pickens and use his talent properly or get rid of him while he still has value. For a player looking for his first big contract, not being involved in the offense hurts him in a major way. The Steelers have shown in the past that they can manage egos well enough. They aren’t doing that right now, and it is only making the entire problem that much worse.
While Pickens antics are certainly a negative, he has a good reason to be mad at the team. Despite a lackluster passing attack for his entire career to this point, the Steelers have done him no favors in trying to elevate him as a player.
Now, they need to make a final choice on what they are going to do. Either learn to manage him correctly and get him involved (with the understanding that this will come with a hefty contract extension next year) or get rid of him. This nonsense in between is good for no one.