Steelers take a fan favorite WR in second round of the NFL Draft

The Steelers appeased fans by taking one of the most frequently mocked wider receivers to Pittsburgh during the pre-draft process. 

Even if you weren’t completely on board with the Kenny Pickett selection in the first round for the Pittsburgh Steelers, it’s hard to be too upset with their decision in round two. With the 52nd overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, the Steelers selected Georgia wide receiver, George Pickens.

My first thought was that “Pickett to Pickens” is going to be a fun little tongue-twister, but I was not at all surprised with this selection. In fact, I correctly mocked Pickens to the Steelers in the second round of my final seven-round mock draft.

Pickens has some remarkable traits to work with. At 6’3 1/4” and 195 pounds, Pickens has very good size to go with 4.47 speed. While he’s not necessarily a speedster or super elusive after the catch, Pickens is a solid route-runner and a nightmare for cornerbacks to try to defend at the catch point.

Pickens was a former five-star recruit who really turned heads as a young freshman back in 2019. Sadly, his 2020 season was cut to just 8 games and he tore his ACL just 4 games into his 2021 campaign.

The Georgia product did enough during his first two seasons to warrant early-round consideration, and some even mocked him as a late first-round draft choice.

The scariest thing about Pickens is his past character and maturity issues, as he has been flagged for incidents in the past, including bullying. This is something I’m sure the Steelers fully vetted before they made this decision with the 52nd overall pick.

What Steelers are getting in Pickens

When looking at the total package on the field, I don’t think Steelers fans are going to be disappointed in this selection. Pickens is big and physically gifted. While he might not be an elite athlete, he’s an incredibly natural football player and makes even the toughest catches look easy (sort of the opposite of what we saw from Chase Claypool last year).

The Steelers now have an interesting decision on how they would like to configure their starting lineup. George Pickens can play either ‘X’ or ‘Z’ receiver, but I don’t think he’s a particularly good fit for the slot.

Because of this, the Steelers may be required to kick either Diontae Johnson or Chase Claypool inside during ’11’ personnel packages. My favorite lineup would probably be Johnson as the ‘X’, Pickens as the ‘Z’, and Claypool as the ‘big slot’.

With this addition, Pickens immediately jumps to WR3 on the depth chart ahead of Miles Boykin, who will probably be just a reserve player much in the mold of James Washington for them.

Pickens is a very gifted football player, and fans have to be excited about this pick. Steelers expressed a lot of interest in him during the pre-draft process, and they ultimately felt good about taking him in the second round.