{"id":482601,"date":"2026-10-31T19:22:41","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T19:22:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/482601\/"},"modified":"2026-10-31T19:22:41","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T19:22:41","slug":"is-dallas-getting-the-pittsburgh-version-of-george-pickens-inside-the-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/482601\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Dallas Getting the Pittsburgh Version of George Pickens? \u00bb Inside The Star"},"content":{"rendered":"

I love the intensity of the Dallas Cowboys version of George Pickens, but could the issues that plagued him in Pittsburgh be creeping up on the Cowboys?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not advocating for a big smile as he walks off the field after a loss, but a good block or two during a game would be nice.<\/p>\n

\"Ed<\/p>\n

#Cowboys<\/a> HC Brian Schottenheimer is usually quick to defend WR George Pickens when criticized for inconsistent effort. That didn\u2019t seem to be the approach today.<\/p>\n

\u201cGP is one of those guys where I don\u2019t ever see him really affected in terms of you know the emotion. Does he get the <\/p>\n

When Brian Schottenheimer criticized Pickens, it caught my attention, and it was something I wasn\u2019t paying attention to during games. Run blocking.<\/p>\n

The Cowboys offense this season has been about as inconsistent as it comes<\/a>, but asking a receiver to help the running game shouldn\u2019t require public discussion, and with Pickens that brings up a logical concern that he had with the Steelers.<\/p>\n

If you remember, or maybe you haven\u2019t seen it, Schottenheimer called out George Pickens for his lazy blocking before the Philadelphia Eagles game. Then we watched as Ryan Flournoy took more snaps than Pickens in the win.<\/p>\n

Can you see the message in that timeline of events? I can\u2019t say for certain the Cowboys\u2019 personnel changes point to Pickens being put in timeout, but here we are.<\/p>\n

Dallas knew the questions they faced when they made the trade for him last season. He\u2019s a productive receiver that gives a team something to worry about outside his play on the field.<\/p>\n

\"Former<\/p>\n

The Pittsburgh Steelers Have Seen this Movie<\/p>\n

While in Pittsburgh, George Pickens caught 174 passes<\/a> for 2,841 yards and 12 touchdowns during three seasons. The Steelers were able to get some productivity out of him while also dealing with his immaturity.<\/p>\n

After two personal fouls against Cincinnati in December 2024, Mike Tomlin said<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just have to grow up, man, it\u2019s an emotional game. These divisional games are big. He has a target on his back because he\u2019s George (Pickens). He understands that, but he has to grow up. He has to grow up in a hurry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oh, and blocking issues isn\u2019t a new thing with George Pickens. Against the Indianapolis Colts, Pickens did not even attempt to block<\/a> for Jaylen Warren. His reasoning was that he didn\u2019t want to risk getting injured.<\/p>\n

Warren was trying to score, and he needed his teammate to help him get into the end zone, but didn\u2019t get any help at all.<\/p>\n

This is all part of George Pickens\u2019 history that put a little more weight on what Schottenheimer had to say about him. Dallas has reached the point where the coach is publicly asking for a player to do more when someone else gets the ball.<\/p>\n

The conversation was had in Pittsburgh, and now it\u2019s like d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu in Dallas.<\/p>\n

I could argue the relationships aren\u2019t in the same place as Pickens and Tomlin, but we can\u2019t dismiss the same type of concern rearing its ugly head again.<\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/p>\n

George Pickens Response Did Not Help Him<\/p>\n

I like that Schottenheimer was very specific about what he wanted.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got to do the same thing in the run game, picking up safeties and blocking corners.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s some pretty basic expectations from a receiver. Does anyone expect him to win every block? No, but his team should be able to count on him being competitive until the play\u2019s over.<\/p>\n

Pickens\u2019 response didn\u2019t sound like someone that cared to improve in that area of his game:<\/p>\n

\"Nick<\/p>\n

Cowboys WR George Pickens on what he can do to be more involved in the offense:<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I\u2019m doing what they tell me to do. So, do what they tell me to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Schottenheimer saying he needs to block better:<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like if you narrow the comments down, you\u2019re talking about the <\/p>\n

I don\u2019t mind that answer, but Pickens has to take some responsibility for his blocking.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve questioned Schottenheimer\u2019s decision-making, and calling out a wide receiver that has a past of causing issues may not be the best move, but if it helps light a fire under Pickens, I\u2019m here for it.<\/p>\n

The thing is, Dallas cannot make effort another thing they have to scheme around.<\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/p>\n

How bout\u2019 the Ryan Flournoy Snaps<\/p>\n

Is the writing on the wall for George Pickens because, against Philadelphia, the game after being called out for effort, we watched as Flournoy played 53 snaps. CeeDee Lamb got 55, and ol\u2019 George Pickens got the short end of the stick with 41.<\/p>\n

Was this just a game plan the Cowboys were going with or was it Schottenheimer trying to get his point across? The reason being, the Cowboys ran the ball down the throats of the Eagles and Flournoy gives a lot of effort in run blocking.<\/p>\n

Whatever combination of blocking, personnel fit, and coaching drove those decisions, Flournoy got the opportunities and Pickens didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Ryan Flournoy shouldn\u2019t have to match Pickens\u2019 receiving numbers, but even that area is close. Against Philadelphia, Flournoy caught all four of his targets<\/a> for 70 yards, while Pickens had four receptions<\/a> on six targets for 57 yards and one touchdown.<\/p>\n

If the coaches think Flournoy is the better blocker, and he\u2019s within a hundred yards receiving with 18 fewer targets than Pickens, are we seeing Pickens become expandable?<\/p>\n

George Pickens\u2019 contested catches are some of, if not, the best in the NFL. His blocking is not.<\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/p>\n

Dallas Needs to Uphold the Standard<\/p>\n

The helmet slam against Tampa Bay doesn\u2019t concern me nearly as much as effort. Pickens told us he was frustrated because the interception left Dallas without chance to come back<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like everybody was the same way, just disappointed, me most definitely because I\u2019m definitely one of the biggest competitors. So as soon as I seen them intercept the ball, I knew the Bucs was gonna try to run the clock out. That\u2019s kind of what they did to start the game. We didn\u2019t get the ball into the second quarter, like the third to the second quarter, so I kind of knew they were gonna do that. So my frustration was just, I knew it was over, and I just hate that we had no more time on the clock.\u201d<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think there is any reason to say George Pickens is a locker room problem. His comments and Schottenheimer\u2019s criticism give us enough to unpack without trying to guess what teammates think.<\/p>\n

The biggest concern I have is that Dallas could get comfortable having this conversation repeatedly. Another reminder from Schottenheimer, a Pickens explanation, and another big-time receiving game to make us forget about it.<\/p>\n

The Cowboys can\u2019t wait until they\u2019re tired of dealing with the issue before coming to the realization that having a standard for players matters.<\/p>\n

Was this helpful?<\/p>\n

Thanks for your feedback!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I love the intensity of the Dallas Cowboys version of George Pickens, but could the issues that plagued…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":482602,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[83949,7581,102,104,103,5962,52610,7708,70707,162552,162553,18148,162554,162555],"class_list":["post-482601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-2026-offense","tag-brian-schottenheimer","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-george-pickens","tag-mike-tomlin","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-players-cap","tag-receiving-stats","tag-run-blocking","tag-ryan-flournoy","tag-standards","tag-wide-receiver-coach"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=482601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482601\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/482602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=482601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=482601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=482601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}