It's Evident there is a WR issue in Pittsburgh

After a disappointing and gut wrenching loss to the Cowboys in the late show edition of Sunday Night Football, there are a lot of questions around your Pittsburgh Steelers. Whether Justin Fields should be starting seems to be at the top of the list although it shouldn’t be in my eyes. How a top paid defense gave up 450 yards to what had been a hapless run game in Dallas, and injuries all across both sides of the ball. This game left a lot of Steelers fans with a really bad feeling. Another slow start for Pittsburgh on offense leaves us all with a lot of questions.

And one question that has remained unanswered since the offseason concluded was further exposed last night.  What are they going to do about their WR room? After trading away Diontae Johnson the Steelers were left with George Pickens as the only elite level talent at the position. While the speedster Calvin Austin III has provided some splash, the rest of the group has been predictably underwhelming. 

Van Jefferson has been virtually invisible in the offense and dropped a crucial pass late from a great ball by Fields. Connor Heyward seemed to be a focal point of the offense, for some reason, and despite the touchdown had crucial drops.  Scotty Miller, I guess plays for the Steelers? The Steelers discovered they do indeed have Pat Freiermuth on the roster late in the second half only to be reminded by Kyle Allen of all people, and practice squad WRs are making crucial catches in games. As for their draft pick Roman Wilson? He hasn’t been able to get on the field due to an ankle injury. His inability to be ready to play is concerning, whether it’s how severe the injury really is, or if he simply isn’t ready for on the field production. Neither is an ideal scenario for what is the last gasp at a solid second WR in Pittsburgh. 

However, most Steelers fans knew this would be the issue from the start of the season, but it seems the WR room has an even bigger issue in my eyes. It’s not a WR problem, but a George Pickens problem. 

His natural talent is undeniable. From his range to catching ability, he has all of the skills. To this point in the season most people would say, he needs to be getting the ball more. And then some more after that. Yet, inexplicably Pickens snap count decreased last night in what was a wildly important game. 

When asked about it, Coach Tomlin stated that the decrease in snaps were the result of wanting more “quality snaps” from snaps from Pickens. For anyone confused, that’s a polite way of Tomlin saying he isn’t going to tell us why Pickens played less. Not shocking coming from Tomlin as he usually doesn’t not share what goes on in house, and it doesn’t serve anyone well if the answer was calling out the young receiver. 

However, there are some clues that this was, in essence, a soft benching. I don’t think the Steelers are in a spot to totally bench their best and quite frankly only productive receiver. Hence, limited snaps. I believe it’s a signal of a festering issue with Pickens.

In Pittsburgh, coaches and fans alike are no stranger to receivers with glaring behavioral issues and this seems to be more of the same. I am not claiming Pickens is the next Antonio Brown. Mainly because his production isn’t there, but also, I don’t think there is anyone who could rise to the level of behavioral malfunction that AB was at. 

Nonetheless, there are issues here. The most glaring evidence came at the end of the game when Pickens pulled down a Dallas Cowboys defender by his face mask. But there was also a glaring lack of effort. Jogging on routes, not making effort for a ball thrown his way, a dropped pass that would have been an easy first down in a crucial moment heading to halftime. 

There were also issues in the Colts game with a costly fumble and dropping another routine catch that would have been a touchdown. I think all of these things are just scratching the surface of underlying issues here. Pickens seems to believe he is an elite WR, and he very well may be right. But he lacks consistency and overall production to, and any kind of veteran presence, to be creating any locker room issues. 

Pickens has a right to be frustrated with offensive production overall and dropping to straight games. I understand he is a competitor. However, for the WR desperate Steelers to limit the snaps of, and I cannot stress this enough, their ONLY good WR, is a serious concern. In what is a WR room lacking overall talent and production it seems there is also the chance of a temper boiling over.