NFL Analyst declares that Steelers WR George Pickens is not appreciated enough in Pittsburgh

George Pickens is one of the most polarizing players in the National Football League, and certainly on the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Some believe he can eclipse the NFL receiving yardage record in 2024, while others think he's best suited as a Robin to Batman .

But according to Lorenzo Reyna of Pro Football Network , Pickens is the most underappreciated player in Pittsburgh:

Pickens not appreciated?

Despite playing with multiple QBs, Pickens still surpassed 1,000 yards for Pittsburgh in 2023. That production also came amid an offensive coordinator change. More astonishing is that his average yards per catch skyrocketed to 18.1 in ’23. - Lorenzo Reyna, PFN

I think that I see where Reyna is coming from, as Pickens' 1140 receiving yards and league-leading yards per catch came inside an offensive architecture that saw three different starting QBs who are all on different teams, and with a coordinator that was unable to call a single game that eclipsed 400 total yards of offense.

That's no small feat given his circumstances.

But who isn't appreciative of Pickens? I would say the majority of Steelers fans are bullish on his ceiling and potential, Pittsburgh thinks highly of him based on their lack of WR moves, and former NFL players have him tabbed as a potential record-breaker .

If someone were to be unappreciative of Pickens, it would probably come back to his actions off the field instead of his play on it. Pickens' lack of effort against the Colts and subsequent postgame interview got him in hot water with the media, with some questioning as late as last month if Mike Tomlin's decision not to bench Pickens as a disciplinary action will come back to bit him.

"Honestly, I disagreed with the way that he [Coach Tomlin] handled it", Steelers reporter Brooke Pryor told Kevin Clark of ESPN's This Is Football podcast . "He came out and he chastised George [Pickens] for how he dealt with the media, at least to the media. He said, 'You know, George needs to get better at how he interacts with you guys, but we're addressing it with him'. But there was no serious punishment for Pickens, which I thought was a terrible decision. And it may come back to bite him this year or in the future because you didn't harshly punish him at the time to prove a point."

For Pickens to truly develop into a bonified top 5-10 type of WR, he doesn't need to take another step physically, or become a better route runner, or catch 1000 passes a day.

For Pickens to reach his ceiling, he must mature, which should come naturally as many seem to forget he's only 23 years old.

And if he does, no one will be able to not appreciate his greatness.