The Green Bay Packers have Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb, and Amari Rodgers as the first three pass catchers on their depth chart. They will almost certainly use one of their two first-round picks on a wide receiver. But because they are picking at No. 22 and 28, guys like Garrett Wilson, Drake London, and Chris Olave might be off the board by the time they make their first selection.
Green Bay’s front office may contemplate moving up to land one of the marquee wideouts, but they have a lot of needs to address and would benefit from keeping all of their current picks instead of trading up for a receiver. Luckily for them, this draft class is loaded with talented wideouts who might fall down the board.
George Pickens from the University of Georgia fits the bill.
Pickens certainly has all the physical tools a team would covet in a wideout, standing 6’3″ and weighing 200 lbs. And he doesn’t just rely on his size to make plays. Pickens is sudden off the line and explosive when beating the opposing defensive backs to the stem of the route. He’s also a great route runner who has access to the entire route tree. Coupled with his size, that gives him an immense advantage against opposing defensive backs.
Pickens’ fluid route-running allows him to get separation. His fearlessness when going across the middle makes him a threat at all three levels. While he isn’t the most explosive wideout, his ability to track the ball over his shoulder and extend his arms to make catches makes him a great deep threat. He also has a great catch radius.
With such obvious talent, you might wonder why Pickens isn’t projected to go in the top half of the first round. Well, there is more than one answer to this question.
Pickens suffered an ACL tear in his right knee early into spring practice. He already wasn’t the fastest wideout, and there is fear that the ACL tear robbed him of some of his athleticism. While he was able to come back this season less than seven months after surgery, he didn’t look quite the same. There were flashes, but you could see that some of the time off affected his playmaking ability.
He also didn’t post the numbers you would want to see from a potential NFL player at Georgia. After a freshman year where Pickens posted over 700 yards on 49 grabs for eight touchdowns, the hope was that he could continuously build on this solid outing.
Unfortunately, he never was able to hit these peaks as he only played eight games in 2020 and finished with 513 yards on 36 grabs. After returning for the final four games this season, Pickens recorded five catches for 107 yards.
Though these declining numbers will turn some people off, it is important to remember that he returned from an ACL injury this season and that COVID robbed him of a full year in 2020. He also had to deal with poor quarterback play throughout his career. We should consider other players like Deebo Samuel, who never crossed 900 yards in his college career due to poor quarterback play.
Yes, I know Samuel and Pickens are very different stylistically. But Samuel is a reminder that sometimes talented college players cannot shine due to their circumstances.
Pickens’ immaturity also may give teams pause. He sometimes walks on the wrong side of the fine line between being a fierce competitor and being obnoxious. Head coach Kirby Smart had to address his star wideout’s behavior with the media after Pickens sprayed water onto Tennessee quarterback Jarrett Guarantano after he was hit out of bounds.
That play cost Georgia 15 yards and allowed Tennessee to score on the possession. It wasn’t a one-off thing either, as Pickens once exchanged punches with a defensive back from Georgia Tech and got himself ejected from the game. If he wants to play at the next level, he will have to become more mature.
While Pickens might be a bit of a wild card because of his maturity and injury history, getting him in a place like Green Bay with rigid expectations and a Hall of Fame quarterback like Aaron Rodgers may help him settle in. With a veteran leader like Cobb in the wide receiver room, Pickens may be able to take on more responsibilities while becoming one the most reliable targets in green and gold.
