George Pickens has 'top guy in the league' potential per his QB in Pittsburgh
George Pickens‘ time at Georgia was a blur. There was a standout freshman season followed by a COVID-shortened second season where he missed two games with injury. Then there was the 2021 campaign where he missed the first 11 games after suffering a torn ACL in spring drills.
He still found a way to help the Bulldogs win a National Championship with one catch for 52 yards and by drawing a pass interference penalty in the fourth quarter that helped setup a Georgia score.
After being selected by Pittsburgh in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft, Pickens opened some eyes as a rookie, catching 52 passes for 801 yards and four scores. His quarterback with the Steelers, Kenny Pickett, was selected in the same draft and has had a front-row seat to Pickens’ development thus far. He’s incredibly bullish on what the former UGA standout can do in 2023.
“George can be a top guy in the league, no doubt,” Pickett said on the Green Light with Chris Long. “There’s probably three catches in practice that stick out to me that were better than ones he had that everyone saw on the season. His natural ability, his floor is so high just based on his natural ability and now we’ve put together a nice route package for him. He continues to work on his game and we work on our continuity together. I’m really excited to play with him going into year two.”
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Pickens had a catch in every game of his rookie season but only had one where he went over 100 yards. That game came in week 16 against the New York Jets and capped off a four-week run in which Pickens had at least six catches in four straight games.
The buzz for Pickens started during the preseason when he hauled in some impressive catches. The former five-star prospect continued that into the season when he made one of the best plays of the season against Cleveland on Thursday Night Football. Pickens’ catch was compared to the one Odell Beckham Jr. made years prior.
Pickens’ time at Georgia saw him lead the team in receiving as a freshman. He had a late-season surge in 2020 where, despite missing two games, he came up just one yard short of leading the team in year two. The ACL injury the following spring seemed to indicate that the 2021 season was just not the Bulldogs’ year as expectations were high for Pickens. But he was able to get back on the field and his 52-yard grab in the National Title game jumpstarted the offense and allowed the Bulldogs to hang around before dominating the fourth quarter.
