Category: George Pickens

Steelers WR George Pickens disassociates himself from the team on social media

There’s some drama in the Steelers wide receivers room and, not surprisingly, it’s with George Pickens.

Aaaaaand … here we go. There’s some drama in the Pittsburgh Steelers wide receivers room, and, not surprisingly, it’s with George Pickens. Five targets, two receptions, negative-1 yard. That stat line is enough to make a receiver’s blood boil, and apparently it has for Pickens.

His Instagram account (@1.issue), once sprinkled with highlight reels and photos of him in Steelers uniform, is now nearly empty and sad. Only a 2020 video of former Carolina Panthers and current Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Matt Rhule remains.

Pickens had the worst game of his career for all the world to see on Thursday night against the Tennessee Titans. And now he’s all up in his feelings, disassociating himself from all things Steelers.

He was far from in his element last night, catching one of the few beautiful and accurate throws from Kenny Pickett with one foot out of bounds. Pickens is well-known for making acrobatic catches look easy, but to make this play didn’t even require extraordinary effort — his stride was just a step too long.

Though Pickett has been inaccurate all season, it was apparent he wasn’t 100 percent with the rib injury, missing wide-open receivers left and right. Pickens’ off night had a lot to do with that. His selfish attitude was evident when he was seen slumped down on the bench with a towel over his head after Diontae Johnson scored his first touchdown since 2021.

Today, The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly told 93.7 The Fan: “By far the first person that left the field, in the locker room and out the door. By far. He was not happy. I was told by people on the sidelines after the touchdown he didn’t really interact with anybody. Sulking his head in his hands.”

Players make mistakes. They have bad games. This was Pickens’ first since he started making plays as a rookie. He needs to grow up and realize it’s not the Pickensburgh Steelers, it’s the Pittsburgh Steelers. Mike Tomlin needs to sit his star down and hash it out.

The Steelers are on a mini-bye week, with their next game on Nov. 12 against the 2-5 Green Bay Packers at Acrisure Stadium.

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Are George Pickens’ past 2 games a sign of what’s in store for the Steelers?

George Pickens had a bad rep at Georgia for being immature, and it’s started to resurface in Pittsburgh.

Read nearly any scouting report on George Pickens coming out of Georgia in 2022, and character issues are a common theme. The Pittsburgh Steelers were well aware of his lack of maturity during the scouting process, and it was one of the reasons (the other being injury concerns) that there were 10 other receivers taken off the board as he fell into their lap at No. 52.

In the NFL, talent trumps just about anything. To pass on a talent like Pickens would’ve been foolish, especially considering their need after trading Chase Claypool to Chicago.

It wasn’t long, though, until Pickens’ name became synonymous with diva — at least momentarily. Talking heads like Skip Bayless were already comparing him to Antonio Brown. But his well-publicized outburst in Atlanta last December flamed out quickly after the incident was chalked up to just a guy with a competitive fire for winning.

Character concerns appeared to be a thing of the past for Pickens. That is until recently. Taunting penalties in consecutive weeks, both of which the NFL came down on him for, can’t be chalked up to a thirst for winning. If Pickens continues to see fewer targets, especially now with Diontae Johnson back in the mix, things could get tense. As they say, once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern. The Steelers had better hope it doesn’t become a pattern.

Publicly, Mike Tomlin states he’d rather say ‘Whoa than sic ’em,” but behind the scenes, he’d better nip the situation in the bud before it gets out of hand.

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Steelers WR George Pickens’ immaturity costs Pittsburgh once again

Mike Tomlin needs to have a stern talking to George Pickens (who should probably learn from Chase Claypool’s past).

Mike Tomlin needs to have a stern talk to his young wide receiver, George Pickens. His immaturity costs the Pittsburgh Steelers for a second straight week — this time with significantly more significant consequences.

Although the NFL has loved fining the Steelers for dumb stuff this season, it’s not something he’ll be fined for. Like Chase Claypool’s celebrating a first down as the clock ran down, Pickens celebrated a then-ruled catch. What he should’ve done was hurry up to the line so the Jacksonville Jaguars didn’t have time to challenge.

Instead, with more time to get the call from upstairs to throw the challenge flag, the play was reviewed and ruled a no-catch, forcing Pittsburgh to punt. With the ball back, Jacksonville took no time to get downfield, no thanks to a huge catch and score by running back Travis Etienne.

Pickens quickly made up for it on the following drive with an explosive 22-yard touchdown from Steelers great Mitch Trubisky.

But it was all for naught, as Pittsburgh loses its first of three consecutive home games by a score of 20-10 and falls to 4-3.

In Pittsburgh’s Week 7 win over the Rams, a Pickens taunting penalty negated an 18-yard gain by Diontae Johnson. It cost not only the team but also himself when he was levied a $8,528 fine on Saturday.

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Steelers OC Matt Canada credited for George Pickens’ ‘matchup nightmare’ turnaround

Give credit where credit is due. 

It’s been a frustrating and slow process getting George Pickens‘ usage in the Pittsburgh Steelers offense back to what he was last year, but things are finally looking up.

Give credit where credit is due.

“For all the bashing of [Matt] Canada and his concepts, the Steelers have done something over the last couple weeks that has finally turned receiver George Pickens into the matchup nightmare he’s designed to be,” The Xs and Os podcast hosts Doug Farrar (USA Today) and Greg Cosell (NFL Films/ESPN) wrote.

After four explosive plays in Pittsburgh’s first four games, he made seven in the Baltimore Ravens and Los Angeles Rams matchups.

“He’s running more fade routes. The Steelers are stretching their formations horizontally, and he’s getting in more of those one-on-one matchups that take away from bracket coverage,” Farrar explained.

Formationally, it gives defenses fits.

“What they’re doing a ton of, and it makes it really hard on defenses, is they’re lining up in four-by-one sets,” added Cosell. “Depending on how the defense plays it, they’re either running slants or fades… That guy is freakish. He’s effortless.”

“Pickens is winning on deep fades and other boundary throws in which he’s able to negate any outside leverage advantage for the cornerback, and Canada is dialing up plays in which the Steelers are running four-strong to one side (four potential targets), and Pickens as the sole target to the other.”

If Canada can build on this and keep Pickens consistently involved — especially if Diontae Johnson is healthy and playing — he’ll continue to be a thorn in the side of defenses.

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Ravens defender downplays George Pickens’ game-winning touchdown

That’s what you get when you only put one guy on George Pickens.

Acisure Stadium shook as the crowd erupted when Kenny Pickett heaved the ball 41 yards downfield into the waiting arms of George Pickens for the game-winning score. It was a typical ho-hum game for the Pittsburgh Steelers offense, and this finally gave everyone something to cheer about.

As bloody as the battles between Pittsburgh and the Baltimore Ravens have been over the decades, there’s a special kind of mutual respect. But All-Pro defender Marlon Humphrey, playing in his first game of the 2023 season, wasn’t having it.

“It was just a throw and catch,” Humphrey said after the loss. “You kind of get beat sometimes when you blitz the house, and that was one of those times. So, obviously, you don’t want to be on the other end of a game-winner, but it happens at the corner position.”

Thanks to Baltimore not respecting Pickens’ game enough to double-cover him, the second-year receiver enjoyed a monster 131-yard day — eclipsing the career 127 yards he put up on the Cleveland Browns.

The rivals won’t meet again until the final game of the regular season. It’s possible the outcome won’t matter much to (at least) one of them.

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Steelers CB Patrick Peterson agrees with Ryan Clark on George Pickens: ‘I can see it’

The George Pickens hype train is getting full.

Former Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark went on the record to say that he believes wide receiver George Pickens is better than Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson. Clark did qualify the statement with some caveats but it really illustrates how talented he believes Pickens is.

After training camp practice on Wednesday, cornerback Patrick Peterson was asked what he thought of the comments and he agreed. Sort of.

Peterson made a note that some of the things Pickens does are amazing, he is still very raw. Peterson also noted, as Clark did that Jefferson is a savant. The level of polish Jefferson plays with is lightyears ahead of Pickens. This doesn’t take away from Pickens’ physical tools or potential but it is reality.

Let’s hope by the end of the season, Pickens does grow as a receiver and taps into that unlimited potential.

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NFL site disrespects Steelers WR George Pickens

George Pickens is going to surprise a lot of people next season.

In 2022, Pittsburgh Steelers George Pickens burst onto the scene and immediately put the rest of the league on notice as to just how talented he is. The NFL put out the 100 best catches of the 2022 season, and Pickens had five of them. But according to the NFL blog The 33rd Team, Pickens isn’t among their seven options as to which receiver from the 2022 draft class will have the best second year.

Pickens and the rest of the Steelers offense pushed through a dreadful first half of the year. But once the bye week hit and the offense started to get on track, Pickens reaped those benefits as well. However, Pittsburgh found themselves running the ball much more so targets weren’t as high as you might expect from a player as dynamic as Pickens.

For the season, Pickens had 52 receptions for 801 yards and four receiving touchdowns. Maybe not as impressive as some of the guys in the tweet below but if you think Pickens isn’t poised to blow up in 2023, you haven’t been paying attention.

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Grading Steelers WR George Pickens 2022 season

George Pickens had some of the best catches in the NFL last season.

When wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster left the Pittsburgh Steelers for the Kansas City Chiefs, wide receiver became a draft need for the Steelers. And despite being one of the best teams at scouting and finding hidden gems at wide receiver, the selection of former Georgia star George Pickens might go down as the best.

The Steelers drafted Pickens in the second round despite many pundits having a first-round on him. This was due to multiple factors including concerns with maturity.

How good was Pickens in 2022? He showed enough in the first half of the season to make Chase Claypool expendable and allowed the Steelers to make a huge trade for a high draft pick.

Pickens’ game isn’t perfect by any means and his season was a product of the rest of the offense but there’s no denying he has some special gifts. Pickens had multiple highlight-reel quality catches during the season and was among the best receivers in the NFL in contested catches.

Pickens finished third on the team with 52 receptions. He was second on the team with 802 receiving yards and led the team with 15.4 yards per catch and four receiving touchdowns. The tandem of Pickens and quarterback Kenny Pickett is the future in Pittsburgh and there are big things coming.

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Pickens has some things we want to see him get better at in the offseason, mainly getting open and creating separation. His skills after the catch are elite and we want to see more of that. But for this season, he gets an easy A for what he accomplished. Cast your vote and let us know what grade you give Pickens for his rookie performance.

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The 10 best Cyber Monday deals for the Pittsburgh Steelers fan in your life

The best holiday gift ideas for any Pittsburgh Steelers fan in your life.

Happy holidays, Steelers fans!

Pittsburgh is off to an up-and-down start this season, but Steelers Wire is here to give you a reason to celebrate this holiday season.

Whether you’re all in on the 2022-23 playoff push or just love to reminisce about the days of Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris or Troy Polamalu, we’ve got you covered with our list of best Steelers.

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