Last night, the Pittsburgh Steelers learned that they would be sending 3 representatives to this year’s Pro Bowl. George Pickens will not be one of those representatives and the standout second-year receiver was not happy about it.
TJ Watt, Minkah Fitzpatrick, and Miles Killebrew were selected to represent the Steelers’ defense and special teams.
However, the team’s offense was left without a representative after a difficult season that saw their offensive coordinator fired.
After the rosters were revealed last night, Pickens took to social media to express his dissatisfaction with missing the Pro Bowl again this season.
The star receiver posted a dark screen to his Instagram story (via Steelers Depot) with writing in the corner that said, “F the prow bowl a** league”.
The Case For George Pickens
Pickens making the claim that he was snubbed by the Pro Bowl voters isn’t anything new. He had the same thing to say after being left out of last year’s game.
He didn’t have a great argument last season. He had a solid year for a rookie, making 52 catches for 801 yards and 4 touchdowns, but those aren’t exactly elite numbers.
This season he made the jump into the elite of the AFC.
Despite having to deal with disappointing quarterback play and multiple changes at the position, Pickens took a big step forward in 2023.
He upped his numbers to 63 catches for 1140 yards and 5 touchdowns. That included a few monster performances throughout the year.
He topped 100 yards five times after only doing so once as a rookie. He was particularly impressive over the last two weeks of the season after the team made the switch to Mason Rudolph.
Over those two weeks, he made 11 catches for 326 yards and a pair of touchdowns in games against the Bengals and Seahawks.
His 1140 receiving yards were good for 12th in the league and fifth in the AFC.
The Players That Made It Over Him
While Pickens took a big step forward this season, the players that actually got voted onto the team also made some pretty strong cases.
To begin with, Tyreek Hill is currently in the running for Offensive Player of the Year after making 112 catches for 1717 yards and 12 touchdowns. He has been the clear best receiver in football throughout the 2023 season.
The next player on the roster is Amari Cooper, who dealt with some QB issues of his own. Those issues didn’t stop him from racking up 72 catches for 1250 yards and 5 touchdowns, including an unbelievable Week 16 performance where he made 11 catches for 265 yards and 2 TDs.
The third receiver that was voted onto the team needed only 13 games to put together an elite season. Despite missing the last 3 weeks, Keenan Allen finished the year sixth in receptions and ninth in receiving yards.
He made 108 catches for 1243 yards in the second-best season of his career.
The final representative is one of Pickens’ AFC North rivals. Ja’Marr Chase has made 96 catches for 1197 yards and 7 touchdowns this season to claim the final Pro Bowl spot.
His number are the closest to Pickens of the four receivers that got voted onto the Pro Bowl roster, but are still a bit stronger than Pickens.
While he may not have gotten the nod this year, the way Pickens has developed throughout the season and the way he has dominated the last couple of weeks should give him and Steelers fans hope that next year could finally be the year, especially if the team’s quarterback play improves.
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