2022 NFL Draft Prospect Profile: George Pickens, WR, Georgia
The number four wide receiver and a top-25 overall recruit in 2019, Pickens caught 85 passes for 1240 yards and 14 touchdowns through the first 20 games of his college career.
As a junior, he barely got to see the gridiron, unfortunately, but he made a big catch down the field in each of their two games against Alabama to give his team a spark, particularly in their national championship victory, and he’s a bit of a forgotten man in this year’s draft.
George Pickens' strengths
Pickens is a tall, vertical play-maker who attacks the ball at its highest point and has excelled along the sidelines and the red zone, indicated by 15.6 percent of his career catches resulting in touchdowns.
He routinely wins on back-shoulder balls, where he pirouettes around late and uses his large frame to shield the ball. The quarterbacks in Athens gave him some chances without any real advantage, and 90 percent of receivers wouldn’t even be able to get a hand on the ball. He routinely nudges defenders off just as the ball arrives, displays tremendous focus, and has those super-strong hands to keep the ball away from swipes by somebody trying to come over his back.
Pickens shows excellent awareness for the sideline and is already advanced in the way he can kick his toes into the turf without touching the white. He made several acrobatic and contested catches in the 2020 Missouri game. And when he’s even with defenders down the field, he can get that late step on those guys with his long strides, which was backed up by the 4.47 he ran in the 40 at the combine.
In this past National Championship game, Pickens made a fantastic diving grab at full extension on a post route. While it was his only catch of the day, he has had a few of those in his career where he just got his fingertips on the ball.
What I appreciate about Pickens as a receiver, who has an excellent tape of winning through contact, is how much he sells vertical off the snap, with his pads over his knees and his head down, when there’s space in front of him. He does an excellent job of appropriately stemming his routes to take advantage of leverage advantages in zone coverage, especially on hitches and curls.
He can create throwing windows on quick in-breakers by slowing his feet and jabbing to the outside before slicing underneath. You see him split high-low stretches, bringing his head around and not rushing into that window. Against press-man coverage, Pickens can be seen routinely attacking the chest of defenders and throwing them off balance.
However, he can also mix it up with some fake stabs or arm-swipes almost and has some sudden footwork that’s tough to stay balanced against. Pickens is explosive in short areas, nearly coming to a jump-stop and then taking off down the sideline on some fade routes against aggressive corners.
Plus, at the top of his routes, he is one of the most physical receivers you will find, particularly on curls against guys who try to play stack technique. He also showed off his football IQ to realize when he wouldn’t be the designated target and he should create room for one of his teammates.
While Pickens did have to stretch his arms over his head for many catches, he instantly switches it to the right hand and twists around to gain yards. He quickly spins outside off routes and is ready to deliver a straight arm to the corner. You don’t see him go down without battling, and he consistently extends himself and the ball forward for an extra couple of yards.
Pickens utilizes the actual spin move effectively to slip off tackle attempts and incorporates some back-jukes and other elusive moves in traffic. You see him land some mean two-handed shoves off the line in the run game to put some corners on the ground. He does an excellent job of making the guy in front of him go backward or get them off balance before initiating contact, selling the outside release, and then getting a hand under the shoulder plate to push him by.
George Pickens' weaknesses
With that being said, Pickens does have that lanky build, which limits his ability to make sharp cuts on the fly. Too often, he gets off balance and slips on routes, mainly if a defender can get a hand on him in the right/wrong moment.
For as physical as he is in some areas, Pickens has room to improve his ability to stack defensive backs on vertical routes since he doesn’t have that pure juice to detach. He could also still get better with the timing of his jumps to maximize his length in jump-ball situations.
The apparent concern for the talented Bulldogs receiver, however, is health, as he was in and out of the lineup in 2020 (being restricted to eight games) and tore his ACL in the spring of last year, which limited him to just 35 pass plays (in four games) and he didn’t look the same outside of those two incredible catches against Alabama.
George Pickens' Draft Projection
As I mentioned at the top, this is a prospect who has come off most people’s radar, and it seems like. There are health concerns with Pickens, and there may be some limitations to the complexity of the route tree that he can effectively execute.
But if you’re looking for an outside receiver who can haul in passes down the field over his outside shoulder, but might be even better at coming up with the ball when it has to be placed on the back shoulder, Pickens can be a nightmare to defend.
He already understands how to deal with guys in his face and displays good awareness against zone coverage, and will fight for yardage once the ball is in his hands.
Final grade: Top-50
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