Steelers organization shares on what impressed them about George Pickens

The Pittsburgh Steelers have been high on George Pickens for quite some time, and on Friday, the second day of the 2022 NFL Draft, they made sure to secure him as a part of their organization, picking him in the second round with the No. 52 overall pick.

“Coming out of last year as we started early draft prep, we thought he was maybe the best wide out coming out,” Steelers offensive coordinator Matt Canada said. “He had a tough injury there in the spring, showed great battle to come back and play late in the year for them. We were able to go to his Pro Day. He was impressive beyond belief at his Pro Day, showed no signs of injury or anything that way.”

Canada made mention of a couple of things that really won Pickens over for the Steelers. First of all it was his body of work before tearing his ACL in March of 2021. The former five-star came into Georgia and led the Bulldogs in receptions and receiving touchdowns both of his first two seasons. He hauled in 49 passes including eight touchdowns as a freshman in 2019, followed up by a COVID-shortened 2020 season that saw him catch 36 balls with six scores. Expectations were high for him headed into his third season in Athens with quarterback seemingly figured out and a play caller that benefitted his style, however the ACL injury during spring practice put those high hopes on hold.

Pickens did fight to get back on the field though, playing in Georgia’s final four games of the 2021 National Championship season. He caught passes in each of those contests, totaling five receptions for 107 yards, including a career-long 52-yard catch in the National Championship Game against Alabama. That effort to be back with his teammates during their run to the title was another thing that stood out to the Steelers.

“The one intangible that you’ve got to give a lot of credit for is coming back and playing,” Canada said. “I don’t have the exact time, but eight and a half months from an injury to coming back and playing. He didn’t have a huge role, but he came back and played late, had some significant plays and fought to get back out there and play. To me, that’s a great show of his character right there. He easily could have said, ‘Hey, I’m going to get healthy and wait.’ We’ve all seen those things happen. They had a great team, obviously they had an exceptional season, but I think that shows a lot about him right there.”

Finally, it was Pickens’ pre-draft process workouts that also impressed the Steelers. The Hoover, Ala. native ran a 4.47 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine before working out at Georgia’s Pro Day. Running the drills for that was Steelers’ wide receiver coach Frisman Jackson.

“George is a big frame guy, I was able to go work him out at his Pro Day, and he’s a guy that’s able to sink his hips, get in and out of his breaks with speed, went up and attacked the football,” Jackson said. “Obviously he didn’t get to play as many games as he wanted to this past football season, but I loved the fact that he wanted to go and play. He came back from the injury, he could have easily said, ‘I’m just going to sit out and wait for the draft process to happen and get myself ready for the draft,’ but no. He wanted to go in there and compete with his team. That showed a lot to me, but the skillset is there. I just can’t wait to get my hands on him and Calvin (Austin III) and develop both of those guys.”

“I was just impressed with his ability to go get the football, his ability to go down the field,” Canada added. “Again, we had him as a really really high guy coming out prior to his injury and we kept him there. He showed us in Pro Day that he was still that guy. We’re really really happy … I do think his Pro Day and how explosive he was. Again, we were there to watch it. I think that just put him in a place where we felt really really good about having a chance to get him at this point in this draft.”

Pickens steps into a Steelers wide receiver room that already has two NFL stars in Diontae Johnson and Chase Claypool. He’ll be able to learn from those two young wide receivers as well as open things up for the entirety of the offense with opponents not being able to dedicate too much attention to any one of the individual pass catchers.

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