Steelers opponent’s claims make George Pickens lack of targets look even more ridiculous

An opponent’s claims suggest George Pickens should definitely be getting more targets during Steelers games.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have turned their season around, doing it mostly through the run game.

In losses, the Steelers pass on 62 percent of offensive plays. In wins, that number drops to 48 percent.

With a rookie quarterback in Kenny Pickett who is still getting a feel for the speed of the game, it makes sense to rely on the running game to some degree. But the Steelers’ inability to get another talented rookie the ball in the process has become a story, with George Pickens blowing up on the sidelines yelling at the coaching staff to get him the ball.

For a while, when the Steelers were winning, it was easy enough to explain away the lack of targets for Pickens. The further this goes along, though, the harder it is to justify. And recent comments from an opponent make it even more confusing as to why Pickens isn’t getting targeted.

Opponent reveals George Pickens should surely be getting more action with Steelers

Marlon Humphrey, Ravens cornerback, straight-up admitted that Pickens was burning him on Sunday.

I coach track over at the high school [Hoover High School]. I tried to recruit him, a lot. Maybe he knew a thing, because he was burning me out there today. But it was really cool to see and have another guy you know – know where he’s from and everything – match up against.

So, if Pickens is burning opposing cornerbacks bad enough to have them admit it openly, why is he only getting three targets per game? Pickens has gotten just five targets across the last two weeks.

With his peers being so honest about his skills and ability to get open, it adds meaningful context to his outbursts on the sidelines.

It doesn’t seem as though keeping Pickens out of the action will be a tenable solution for next year and beyond. He wants to compete and won’t go down quietly uninvolved, as much as Matt Canada might want him to. The Steelers made a wise decision to draft him and figuring out how to get him involved for next year needs to be one of the top priorities.