George Pickens voices frustration with his usage in Steelers' offense
What started out as a light drizzle following a bad loss against the Cardinals has turned into a torrential downpour for the Pittsburgh Steelers. In a little over a week, we have seen team leaders call out the locker room, alumni say the current Steelers product is embarrassing, and a close yet well-informed friend of […]
What started out as a light drizzle following a bad loss against the Cardinals has turned into a torrential downpour for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
In a little over a week, we have seen team leaders call out the locker room, alumni say the current Steelers product is embarrassing, and a close yet well-informed friend of Mike Tomlin's float the idea that this season may be his final one in Pittsburgh.
Well, the last thing the Steelers needed was to add fuel to the drama-filled fire, yet George Pickens did just that:
“It ain’t really fun losing,” Pickens told reporters ahead of the Colts game. “I don’t really know what reaction you guys would expect. If you lose at a video game. If you lose at anything you participate in, I’m pretty sure you’ll be mad. That’s the biggest component of it…
"…I can’t really produce when you are running five-yard routes, three-yard routes,” Pickens said. He added that there are longer routes in practice and he hopes to see that in a game. I’m still doing what George does to get open and catch the ball and score. That’s all I want to do.
I just want to win.”
Between the usage of third-person omnipresent and his deliberate verbiage designed to put a target on the back of the Steelers offensive coaching staff, this is one of the more memorable quotes from Pickens' short career, even if it's for all the wrong reasons.
Part of me just wants to shake my head and say why, but another part of me knows that while the self-awareness from Pickens is around zero, he's not wrong when you analyze the way Pittsburgh is using his talents:
Pickens hasn't scored a TD or totaled over 100 receiving yards since October, and continues to run a limited route tree, not only in terms of type of route, but in depth.
Pickens averaged a measly 3.2 yards per target against the Patriots, and was a total nonfactor in terms of being a vertical threat.
Many hoped that a change at OC would bring more explosion to the offense, especially in terms of Pickens' usage, but as we have seen, it's been worse.
So I echo his frustrations. Pittsburgh continues to use a million-dollar sports car like a daily driver, just wasting miles on a piece of art designed for much greater capabilities.
But Pickens isn't helping anyone when he makes statements like these, as it only continues to divide a locker room that needs all the galvanizing it can get.
Hopefully for Pittsburgh, Pickens, and everyone else involved, things change, and they change fast.
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