Steelers 4 Downs: George Pickens seems frustrated with lack of targets. Does he warrant them?

1. Deserving of the ball?

A common refrain among Pittsburgh Steelers fans seeking answers for their team’s struggling offense has been a plea to get more opportunities for George Pickens. But the numbers are mixed on if the receiver is being ignored by the play-callers and quarterbacks, or if Pickens isn’t quite as worthy of all the balls seemingly everyone believes he should be getting.

During Thursday’s loss to the New England Patriots, Pickens was targeted six times — tied for second most on the team — but with those targets, he produced just 19 yards on five catches.

Over the course of the season, Pickens already has the highest share of targeted air yards of any Steelers WR or TE: 36.3% of the yards Steelers quarterbacks throw the ball down the field have gone to Pickens.

According to Next Gen Stats, Pickens on Thursday had an average of 2.8 yards of separation (the nearest defender at the time of catch or incompletion). That actually bumped up his season average to 2.3 yards of separation. Only five of the 120 qualifying wide receivers or tight ends in the league have a lower figure in that category.

But while that suggests Pickens has trouble via his route-running in getting open, it also could be attributable, in part, to Pickens (per Next Gen) having the smallest average “cushion” (average distance of a receiver’s covering defender at time of snap) of any pass-catcher in the league at 4.8 yards. In other words, it could be interpreted that Pickens is so respected by opponents that they prioritize pressing him.

2. Hankies for Joey

By most accounts, rookie CB Joey Porter Jr. is establishing himself as the Steelers’ No. 1 cornerback for years to come. But the pre-draft scouting report on Porter had at least one red flag: too many yellow flags. That has been a valid concern.

Despite playing fewer than two-thirds of the Steelers’ defensive snaps this season (he didn’t take over a full-time role until Week 7), according to nflpenalties.com, Porter has drawn more penalty flags than any Steelers player (10). In fact, only two players across the league, regardless of position, have been flagged more often than Porter. Only six cornerbacks have more accepted penalties against them.

Interestingly, there are five different infractions among his 10 flags: pass interference (three), offsides (two), holding (two), face mask (two) and illegal use of hands (one). The only player in the NFL who has been flagged for more separate types of penalties is Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (seven different infractions over eight times flagged).

3. Nate the great

If PFF’s grades are telling, Nate Herbig’s relief appearance at left guard during last week’s loss to the Arizona Cardinals was the best game played by a Steelers offensive lineman this season.

Herbig came on for an injured Iasaac Seumalo during the second quarter, and, per PFF, he allowed only one hurry and no sacks or QB hits. His 91.8 PFF grade was the second best of all NFL offensive lineman in Week 13 and was the higher than any Steelers offensive lineman for any game this season.

The best grade a Steelers O-lineman had for a 2023 game prior to that was right guard James Daniels’ 79.4 during a Nov. 2 win against the Titans.

4. In James they trust

James Conner’s big day against his former team in that aforementioned Arizona game was not because the Steelers were not intent on stopping him. According to Next Gen, no running back in the NFL during Week 13 faced a “stacked box” (defined as eight defenders lined up close to the line of scrimmage at the time of snap) more than Conner. But despite the Steelers putting those eight men in the box for 15 of Conner’s 25 carries (60%), only one player in the league had more rushing yards last weekend than Conner.