Should Steelers Be Worried about George Pickens?

UNITY TWP., Pa. — For whatever reason, there seems to be an elevated amount of drama surrounding the actions of Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens during the first week of training camp at St. Vincent College this year.

Pickens has demonstratively thrown his hands in the air when his quarterback deemed it necessary to deliver the ball elsewhere. He’s moped and half-heartedly gone through some drills. And he’s drawn the ire of new wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni, with the two having a very visible back-and-forth after Pickens dogged it on a blocking assignment.

Almost 43% of fans in a poll by 93.7 The Fan host Andrew Fillipponi over Friday and Saturday said they’re “worried” about Pickens.

But in reality, not very much of what Pickens has done is new. Pickens has always been a player that has had his heart on his sleeve — and on your TV screen — every time things don’t go his way on the field. Allen Robinson’s role on the team last year was as much “guy who tries to calm George Pickens down” as it was wide receiver.

He’s never been the kind of player that goes all out in practice. He’s not first or last in the JUGS line. I posted this video of him in practice last year, operating at three-quarter speed.

And of course, you all remember him refusing to block for Jaylen Warren in Indianapolis last year and then his ham-fisted attempt to rationalize his behavior, calling out the media for attacking him instead of acknowledging his own faults.

He also got into hot water for liking negative Instagram comments pointed at Steelers starting quarterback Kenny Pickett. Generally, Pickens has more often than not done things that most NFL observers would call the “wrong way” during his NFL career. The Steelers reportedly fined him $200,000 last year over the course of the season. He only made a little over a million. That’s 20% of his salary for being a ne’er do well.

After practice on Saturday, he surprised a Make a Wish visitor with season tickets. Then spent his media session hunched over and mumbling.

But the only part of that entire arrangement that is new for 2024 is that someone is getting into his face about it. Azzanni is an aggressive, loud, details-obsessed position coach, and that sure seems like an oil and water mixture with Pickens.

Pickens downplayed the import of the change of pace at wide receivers coach on Saturday.

“He’s a great guy. High energy, for sure,” Pickens said. “[Georgia coach] Kirby Smart is kinda like that. I kinda had a coach like that in college. It’s really no huge, huge change for me. That’s just Coach’s Z personality.”

At the end of the day, if you’re concerned about Pickens’ behavior when it comes to everything other than catching the ball, you should probably like the fact that the Steelers are taking a more aggressive tact to try to ward it off this year, even if I’m somewhat skeptical that it’s going to make much of a difference.

Furthermore, that perceived-to-be-negative behavior hasn’t really bled over into has play as a wide receiver. Pickens’ Instagram drama with Pickett blew up on Sept. 11 last year, six days before Pickett hit him four times for 127 yards and a touchdown in a win over the Cleveland Browns.

The week after he said was afraid of getting hurt, and that’s why he didn’t block for Warren in Indy, Pickens caught four passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns in a career-best day against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Pickens has 1,900 yards and nine touchdowns over two seasons. He’ll probably improve on that average this year. This other stuff is just stuff. It does matter, but it hasn’t prevented him from being the player that the Steelers largely need him to be.

Should Steelers fans be concerned about Pickens? If they want to hold him up as a paragon of football virtue, well, sure. If they only care about him being a really good wide receiver, then it really doesn’t look like much of that matters.

Of course, Pickens’ contract will expire at the end of the 2025 season, and he’ll be seeking an extension this time next year. The team might care a bit more about a lot of the pieces of the job that Pickens doesn’t seem to. We shall see.

RELATED: Saunders: George Pickens Is Walking, Talking and Pouting His Way Out of Steelers Future Plans