George Pickens knows how to be the center of attention. Whether he’s throwing unnecessary tantrums on the field or throwing unnecessary shade at far more accomplished wide receivers, he’s once again the topic of conversation.
Pickens decided to take a shot at Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown on FS1’s “The Facility”, calling him a “Slot Merchant”.
"[Scheme] is the biggest thing in football. That’s how you get Amon Ra St. Brown, you know, slot merchants that schematically get fed the ball," Pickens said, according to an MSN story.
Now why take that shot? If Pickens played like he yapped, he might be as good as the other 18 receivers with more yards than him. By the way, Jameson Williams is also having a better year than Pickens stats wise as well.
For what it’s worth, St. Brown took the high road and didn’t think too much of the stray.
"Honestly, I don’t even think it was a stray," St. Brown said according to a story on Audacy. "I feel like a lot of people just saw the clip and saw the short part of it, but I don’t think he meant anything bad.”
In the story from The Mirror, he continued to quote Pickens saying media members paint him as being selfish. The irony is he said that as an argument defending himself.
Can George Pickens be the No. 1 receiver the Pittsburgh Steelers have been waiting for?
Pickens has all the talent to be one of the best receivers in the NFL like he believes he can be. The problem is he’s not playing like one. He mentioned in the MSN story that he feels the scheme isn’t allowing him to flourish like he can.
But maybe it’s more than that. Why don’t the Steelers trust him enough to utilize him more in the “scheme”? They could easily find plays to get him involved more and find plays that fit his play style.
He’s been open about his lack of productivity since he’s joined the NFL. And sure, there’s inconsistencies all wide receivers go through. Some of the best receivers in the NFL right now have had moments of frustration for not getting the ball.
The difference is, they don’t let it affect their relationship with the offense. It’s clear Pickens is kind of on the outside of the Steelers offense. He can mend that relationship, but pointing fingers won’t help.
If Pickens can start taking more accountability and focus more on what he can control and not what others need to do, he can be considered one of the top receivers. Until, the should probably keep the other top wideouts of his mouth and not make any more enemies.