During the buildup to the 2022 NFL draft, many evaluators argued that Georgia wide receiver George Pickens was worthy of a very early selection. While he was returning after a knee injury that sidelined him at the start of his final college season, what he did while at Georgia, particularly as a true freshman in the SEC earlier in his career, was first-round stuff.
Those same evaluators had some words of warning for the rest of the AFC North when Pickens slid to the Steelers midway through the second round last April.
After what Pickens has showed in camp, and then after his debut against the Seattle Seahawks, those calls are getting even louder.
Pickens, in limited action early, caught three passes for 43 yards and a touchdown. The scoring play was a dazzling effort, that included a toe-tap in back of the end zone. We will get to that in a moment, but a number of his plays are worthy of discussion.
His first reception came on Pittsburgh’s first offensive play. Aligned wide to the left, Pickens runs a simple hitch route, but watch as he snaps this off, violently changing directions and working back to the football, getting a good deal of separation on this quick route:
Those violent change-of-direction skills, coupled with the timing on the throw, give him a chance for yardage after the catch. As does the stiff-arm he employs after the reception. When four-yard throws become nine-yard gains, the offense is doing something right.
On this next snap, Pickens is aligned wide to the right side and runs a vertical route. While the quarterback works the post/over combination in the middle of the field, watch as Pickens gets separation deep downfield, beating the coverage defender over the top:
Later in the first half, Pickens runs another go route, again along the right sideline. Here, he beats a press-aligned defender first with his feet, and then with his hands. He uses a stutter-step release to put the cornerback on the defensive, and then attacks his outside leverage. When the corner looks to get his hands on him, Pickens swats them away, getting up to speed:
Mason Rudolph’s throw drifts out of bounds, but the release and acceleration from Pickens stand out on this play.
Then, the touchdown that blew up your Twitter timeline:
This is another vertical route, that comes against a cornerback giving him a huge pre-snap cushion. Pickens manages to erase that cushion with his speed, but at the top of the route he shows a little veteran savvy, using his left arm to create a little more space.
Looking back, here is part of what I wrote about him prior to the draft:
Pickens is a master of late separation. He wins at the catch point, which is something he was doing as a true freshman against bigger and more physical SEC cornerbacks, but also has the ability to create a bit of space off his breaks with arm bars, shoulder nudges and by using his leverage and frame.
You see that on this play.
Pickens follows that late separation with the incredible toe-tap in the back of the end zone, and the Steelers are on the board.
A solid debut for Steelers fans. One that perhaps we should have seen coming.