Pittsburgh Steelers select Georgia wide receiver George Pickens in 2022 NFL Draft

The Pittsburgh Steelers are banking on Georgia product George Pickens to come in and transform their wide receiving corps. After playing a huge role throughout his time in Athens, the former versatile Bulldogs pass catcher will be expected to do the same in his NFL career. That’s why the Steelers took him off the board early in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft on Thursday night, picking him No. 52 overall.

While a torn ACL took away most of Pickens’ season last year, the star wide receiver made an impressive return from the injury quicker than anyone could’ve imagined. The former Bulldogs pass catcher was back in time for the College Football Playoff, where he hauled in a huge 52-yard reception that gave Georgia momentum against Alabama.

In his three seasons with the Bulldogs, Pickens accumulated 1,347 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns. Last season, Pickens realized his dream of bringing a championship to Georgia, helping to end a drought that spanned over 40 years when the Bulldogs defeated Alabama in the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship Game.

Most importantly to Pittsburgh, Pickens has potential to become one of the top wide receivers in the entire NFL. He was dominant at times at Georgia, and many believe he’s just scratching the surface of his potential.

A former five-star recruit in the class of 2019, Pickens was the No. 4 wide receiver in the nation per the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average. The former Georgia star played his high school football at Hoover in Hoover, Alabama. Pickens was the second-ranked recruit coming out of Alabama in his class.

What NFL draft analysts are saying about George Pickens

Furthermore, Lance Zierlein of NFL.com broke down what George Pickens can bring to the NFL in his recent scout of the wide receiver’s draft profile. The analyst believes the best pro comparison for the former Georgia star is Josh Reynolds, a former fourth-round selection of the Los Angeles Rams out of Texas A&M who currently resides with the Detroit Lions. Over the course of his five-year NFL career, Reynolds has amassed 1,835 receiving yards and 11 receiving touchdowns.

“Lanky perimeter wideout with exciting ball skills but in desperate need of additional play strength and a clean bill of health,” wrote Zierlein. “Resilient to make it back so quickly after an ACL tear, but needs to show quick-cutting ability for route-running. Pickens possesses borderline elite ball skills with in-air adjustments, strong hands and an enormous catch radius. However, he fails to put defenders on his hip and command the catch space to make his work less cluttered.

“The routes need more polish and physicality but he has the athletic ability to become a viable target on all three levels as a likely Day 2 draft pick with a little wider gap between ceiling and floor than NFL teams might like.”