George Pickens Key Stats:
Wide Receiver, Georgia
Height: 6’3”
Weight: 195
2022 Rookie WR Most Likely To: Get Unsportsmanlike Conduct Penalties
RAS: 9.33
Games Watched:
Alabama, Cincinnati, Auburn (2020), Florida (2019), Missouri (2019), Baylor (2019)
Positives Scouts Saw:
- Height and wingspan advantage
- Plays physically and with attitude. Loves to block.
- Hands at the line of scrimmage
Negatives Scouts Saw:
- Not elite acceleration
- Average route runner
- Mostly vertical route tree
Positives I Saw:
- Ridiculous body control
- Boxes out DBs at catch point
- Major deep ball threat
Negatives I Saw:
- Average route runner
- Only an outside WR
- Can he consistently beat the press?
As A Prospect:
George Pickens tore his ACL in the spring of 2021 and missed the entire season before coming back to play in his last game. In the year prior, he failed to recreate his dominant freshman year. However, George Pickens is not an athlete in decline: far from it. Pickens is a big, physical go-route specialist that catches passes like an elite rebounder and has potential to be a dominant deep threat in the NFL. He is more than willing to get physical at the line, as a blocker, and at the point of the catch. You want someone to run a deep route between two safeties? Pickens is your guy.
Fantasy Football Potential:
Pickens will most likely get second round draft capital in April, so he is ranked as a fantasy player as the top guy in the second tier of talent. Pickens should be a cheaper, end of round 1 pick in dynasty drafts and could provide immense value in redraft as the 4th rookie WR off the board. He projects to be a day 1 starter as a team’s WR2, with the potential to be the WR1 for his team by the end of the year. He is a bully in a football uniform, and he will get what he’s after. Pickens should be someone you look at as a low-risk, high-reward play late in redraft leagues.
Overall:
Full disclosure: I’m a Chicago Bears fan really really hoping that Pickens falls to 39 overall. He has the potential to be an incredible deep threat that can win reliably on the sidelines and deep, a skill set that makes his QB better. He is not as dynamic as those in the tier above him, but I think in real life football he does things that help his team win that don’t show up on stat sheets: throwing blocks downfield, setting the physical tone for an offense, and clearing out space for possession receivers to win underneath. George Pickens might not be a fantasy league winner, but he can certainly be an important piece of a successful NFL offense.
George Pickens Reminds Me Of:
Josh Reynolds
Grade: 88/100
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