By CJ Carlson
George Pickens hasn’t had the statistical season he was hoping for at this point into the year. The Pittsburgh Steelers budding star has been openly frustrated about his production on a number of occasions, and he’s now taking that out on the media as well. When asked about his poor statistical campaign, Pickens didn’t shy away from immediately pointing out the play calling in this offense.
He made it awfully clear that he can’t put up the numbers that people are expecting when he’s only being given routes that span three to five yards down the field. His full quote was, “I don’t know. You guys be at practice, right? I would just say I hope to see things like that. When it’s routes like that, I mean, I can’t really produce that way, running 5-yard routes, 3-yard routes.” Pickens actually had his route tree revealed following the loss to the New England Patriots, and it was shocking how short his routes were throughout the entire game.
George Pickens Needs To Be In The Game Script
I think it’s safe to say that George Pickens is the Steelers best weapon offensively. Unlike the majority of teams, Pittsburgh doesn’t feel the need to draw up plays to get their best weapon involved in the offense early. Towards the beginning of the season, Pickens had 27 receptions for 500 yards and broke the 100-yard mark in three of his first six contests. Since then, he’s had just 22 receptions for 267 yards. Yes, Diontae Johnson and Pat Freiermuth were out for some of those early games and returned afterwards, but his number should still be higher than they are.
It also doesn’t help his case that the Steelers demonstrated a great ability to run the football a few weeks ago and have relied on that heavily lately. The problem is that their quarterback Kenny Pickett it out, and their offense as a whole is horribly predictable. Drawing up plays to get Pickens involved down the field, where he can make splash plays, is exactly what this group needs. I don’t blame his frustration either after they lost to the Arizona Cardinals and the Patriots in back-to-back weeks.