Steelers WR George Pickens Rips Madden for Rating

Steelers wide receiver George Pickens recently learned and reacted to his latest Madden rating.

Oct 29, 2023; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens (14) celebrates a third quarter touchdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Acrisure Stadium. The Jaguars won 20-10. Mandatory Credit: Philip G. Pavely-USA TODAY Sports / Philip G. Pavely-USA TODAY Sports

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers are usually not an organization focused on outside distractions. They are a team that tries to block it all out. Take for example, the upcoming edition of Hard Knocks the team will be featured in. Coach Tomlin has talked about how the team will proceed with business as usual in an effort to minimize the distractions.

Sometimes you can't help but to notice the outside factors and be affected by them. That is the case currently with Steelers' receiver George Pickens. With the recent release of the latest Madden NFL video game, the entire NFL can now see the how the EA Sports crew feels about their game. Some players are given generous ratings, but Pickens was given an 83 overall, tied for 33rd among receivers. There were 32 other receivers given higher ratings than Pickens.

That didn't sit well with the Steelers number one receiver, who is working on establishing himself as a premier pass-catcher in the NFL. He was understandably not happy with this development and took to his Instagram account to air his frustrations with EA Sports. He tagged the Madden account and called them out for "producing bad gaming."

So far in training camp, Pickens has been impressive. He and Fields have connected for several highlight-reel receptions, and the position group is looking to him as a leader. 2024 is projecting to be a huge season for Pickens.

Which is why he has a cause for criticism. He is still not in the top level of NFL receivers, but it feels disrespectful to claim there are over 30 players better than him at his position. He's coming off of his first 1,000 yard season in the league, and he did so catching passes from Kenny Pickett and Mason Rudolph. With Russell Wilson or Justin Fields under center this upcoming season, it's reasonable to believe Pickens will vastly outplay his 83 overall and make Madden 25 look silly for rating him so low.

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