It was no secret the Pittsburgh Steelers were very high on former Georgia wide receiver George Pickens. The Pittsburgh brain trust was very interested in Pickens at the Georgia pro day. So it came as no surprise with multiple top receivers still on the board, Pittsburgh opted for Pickens at the No. 52 overall pick.
Having spent a great deal of time studying Pickens since that pro day, it is fairly obvious what the Steelers want out of Pickens. They didn’t draft him to replace JuJu Smith-Schuster. In fact, in some aspects, he’s the literal opposite of Smith-Schuster. Where JuJu was physical and loved to initiate contact, Pickens is more slight and doesn’t so well when he has to engage with defenders.
So where does Pickens fit in this offense? I look for Pickens to come in and line up on the perimeter and push Chase Claypool inside where he can dominate his matchups. Pickens can use his speed, long lanky frame and enormous catch radius to force safeties to stay back. This will open up lanes in the run game for running back Najee Harris.
