Estimating the impact each Pittsburgh Steelers rookie will have in 2022
By Tommy Jaggi
George Pickens: High impact
The Pittsburgh Steelers seem to spend a second-round pick on a skill player just about every year. While some (like James Washington) have had very minimal impact during their rookie seasons, others (like JuJu Smith-Schuster and Chase Claypool) have been huge for Pittsburgh from the gate.
Based on my pre-draft evaluation, George Pickens is a better prospect than Smith-Schuster or Claypool coming out of college, but he’s not without his question marks. The talented wide receiver has played sparingly for Georgia over the past two seasons and suffered a torn ACL that ended his 2021 campaign just four games into the season.
In addition, there were reports that many teams had Pickens off their draft board entirely due to what was labeled as character and maturity issues, and some draft analysts suggested that he’s not very coachable.
Regardless, Pickens is an extreme talent who will be too good to keep off the field. With JuJu Smith-Schuster, James Washington, and Ray-Ray McCloud each on different teams, Pickens could immediately step into a sizable role on offense as a rookie. His impact should be substantial.