2022 NFL Draft: Wide Receiver Deep Dive - George Pickens

   

 

George Pickens - Georgia

Overview:

Strengths:

1. Body Control - Pickens can contort his body in any direction while in the air or diving low to make the difficult catch. This translates effectively into contested catch situations.

2. Sideline Awareness - The number of twisted toe taps he had throughout his tape is remarkable. He will frequently drag his toes with both feet instead of one, which is promising to see as he enters the NFL.

3. Physicality - He will fight for every yard and attempt to run through guys bigger than he is with surprising success.

4. Tenacity - Pickens will fight to the end of the play whether it is on blocks, or positioning on contested catch opportunities. He loves contact, and is determined to show the corner that he is the superior 'man' on any given play.

Weaknesses:

1. Acute Change of Direction - Pickens plays high, so he does not drop his hips and explode out like many shorter receivers are able to do. He has average deceleration and acceleration for his size, which translates to below average acute change of direction abilities.

2. Deep Separation - He may get a step on the college safeties over the middle, but rarely separates along the boundary or verses man coverage in general.

3. Balance - Pickens frequently stumbles when blocking, running in the open field, and changing direction. His contact balance is good, but he trips over his own feet far too frequently.

4. Suddenness - His release nor his route breaks are all that sudden, and is simply not the most twitchy athlete.

Grade: Late Second

George Pickens put up incredible tape as a true freshman. Unfortunately, it was the best tape he has throughout his college career. He has tremendous upside as a prospect, but that comes with a very low floor as well.

Film:

Missouri (12/12/2020): 5-126-2

Willing to get physical while blocking. Average acceleration off the line. Good movement at the line to flip the corner's hips, but lacked the raw speed to break open from the advantage. Frequently blanketed in tight press. Good positioning on sideline catch. Treats every play like a competition against press, especially when it comes to blocking. Really knows how to accelerate across a defender once he turns his opponent's hips. This is a difficult skill to master as it requires a lot of nuance in route running, but Pickens shows it too many times for it to be a coincidence. Excellent contested catch over a defender.

Cincinnati (01/01/2021): 7-135-1

Average release that could improve with practice. Dropped pass followed by difficult diving catch. Got out-positioned on interception. Good aggressive blocking. Excellent against zone. Frequently does the same move of faking outside, cutting in a few steps, then sitting roughly five yards out. Great low catch, once again displaying that he can make the difficult low catch. Not afraid to sacrifice his body to go after the ball. Terrible block attempt, but it lead to a touchdown. Interesting hurdle attempt. Excellent use of the corner's hip rotation on the comeback route to get wide open.

Alabama (01/10/2022): 1-52-0

Great positioning to make a body catch on his one reception. Release is not slow, but not impressive either. Slower route breaks that offer little misdirection. Very few snaps. Uses upper body to get past corner. Still a very physical athlete. Decent blocking, but balance while extending arms needs work. Lacks urgency off of the line. Enjoys bullying corners with his size.

All 2019 Targets:

Great body control in the air. Excellent diving catch. Good sideline awareness. Great stance and adequate linear acceleration off the line. Physical after the catch. Found the zone well on the inside. Incredible sideline toe tap. Does not frequently win contested catch situations early on in the season. Not getting much separation downfield. Stutters a bit too much when decelerating. Clearly athletic and physical, but understandably (as a freshman) lacks route running skills on all levels of the field. Good enough acceleration off the line, but has significant room to improve his release. Not great RAC, but will fight for extra yards. Turns the corner's hips really well with footwork in press (seen below). Frequently in deep contested catch situations, and rarely gets any separation downfield unless it is over the middle. Amazing touchdown grab displaying sideline awareness and body control. Poor footwork on acute changes of direction. Good split step on release to mask his route. Not the most reliable hands. Great at back shoulder catches on the outside.

Baylor (01/01/2020): 12-175-1

Turns to run quickly after catch. Excellent mid-route acceleration on flea flicker that would have resulted in a touchdown with a better pass. Frequent routes where he sits roughly five yards out. Deadly back shoulder catch. Excellent sideline awareness. Almost always gets separation on his five yard curl regardless of coverage type. Perfect blocking downfield. Incredible body control. Run after catch was impressive at his size. Blocking and route running IQ were extremely impressive.

Coverage:

Press

Frequently played against press, but rarely got much separation beyond five yards downfield. Great body control and positioning to catch back shoulder throws and poorly thrown passes, but he does not always come down with the ball in true contested catch situations. This was more the case early on in his freshman year, but it is something to monitor as he enters the NFL. He wins physically most of the time against press at the line, and actively enjoys showing the corner who is boss, even when it is not necessary for the play.

Jam Response (in Press)

Excellent. Pickens almost always wins at the line, even when he was a true freshman.

Soft Press

Very infrequently seen in the tape. It was usually either tight press of off coverage. Pickens had one good move against soft press where he would threaten the boundary by accelerating quickly to the outside, then transition into a deep route towards the middle to flip the defender's hips. Aside from that single inconsistently effective move, he really is not as much of a threat against soft press. It seems to have all of the benefits of press without Pickens being able to bully corners on the line. He will need to work on his release if he wants to find reliable success into any type of press in the NFL.

Squat

Also infrequent, but Pickens could get separation in the short area against any type of downfield coverage. He had more trouble separating on deeper routes when the corner waited for him to make contact downfield.

Off

Ran a curl frequently against off coverage, which worked, but could have been quicker. He also really plays the game by feel. Against off coverage, this translates to him knowing when to cut inside and how to maximize yards after the catch.

Inside Zone

One of the best at finding the inside zone. Pickens knows how to feel out a defense, and seems to always end up in the right place. He can turn and run quickly after catching the ball inside to maximize yardage as well.

Route Distance:

Behind LOS

Pickens is not a gadget receiver or YAC guy whatsoever. He has a couple of extremely impressive runs after the catch and is willing to get physical, but is not and should not be utilized frequently behind the line of scrimmage.

0-5 yards

Average line release, but gets a step on the corner by rotating the corner's hips near the line more than expected. What Pickens lacks in burst, he makes up for in feel. He is one of the best there is at assessing a situation on the fly, and this generally results in more separation within five yards of the LOS than is expected of someone with his playstyle.

5-10 yards

Great at finding the hole in the zone, and turns to run quickly after the catch. Adequate separation when hooking in this range against man by selling deep routes well. Great at running toward corner's back immediately after the corner pivots his hips to run.

10-15 yards

Extensive route tree from outside and in the slot. He understands how to work a defense and can gain separation up to 15 yards out despite his lack of suddenness and speed.

15-20 yards

This is where Pickens thrives along the boundary. He gets nearly no separation, but can position himself to make any back shoulder catch that comes his way. He is not as successful farther downfield when the ball is lofted and he has to fight for positioning, but the way Pickens can leap up and contort his body to make the catch while staying in bounds is unmatched and almost feels like cheating. This should be very effective in the NFL if he goes to a team with an accurate quarterback.

20+ yards

Pickens simply does not gain separation downfield against outside corners. He just does not have the speed to make deep route breaks like some of the fliers in the NFL. That said, he is still effective deep because of his ability to catch anything thrown in his general direction. His diving catches are otherworldly, and he can pluck the ball out of the air away from his body with ease. If the ball is in the air too long and the corner has time to slow down and position, then the result is usually an incompletion.

Blocking:

Willingness

Very willing blocker, often going after cornerbacks on plays where it is not even necessary.

Technique

Decent technique overall. He knows how to use his length and lock up a corner for an extended period of time when necessary, but he loses balance too frequently. This likely comes from being too aggressive on the block, resulting in an excessive forward lean. A little more refinement on his technique will not be difficult for him to understand, and should make him a solid blocker at the next level. He may have some issues against bigger guys in the middle as he only weighs 195lbs, but he should be playing mostly on the outside either way.

Attributes:

Attributes		Grade (/10)	Notes
Separation	Short	7.5	He does not have explosive breaks or sudden moves off of the line, but he knows how to play the cornerback and gain a step early on in the route. If he can learn to maximize that step by breaking away from the corner more cleanly, then he could become a surprisingly excellent separator in short area situations. This playstyle will be much more difficult to execute at the NFL level. He is also nearly always open against zone coverage five or so yards out, regardless of where he initially lines up.
	Medium	7	Separation from his route running alone would likely be around a 5/10, but his extensive route tree and ability to play into zone boost this grade up significantly.
	Deep	3	While Pickens finds sideline success and some separation over the middle at times, his rarely separates from the corner significantly in man coverage. He will make diving catches and knows how to contort his body to make catches few other receivers could, but this does not come from an ability to separate deep.
Release	Stance	9	Occasional false step with his front foot, but mostly good posture and weight distribution. On plays with no false step, his stance and initial release are near perfect.
	Acceleration	5	Average off the line at best. This can certainly improve, but his acceleration is not impressive linearly or laterally.
	Hip Control	8	Very fluid for an athlete of his size. Hip control generally translates to abrupt lateral acceleration, but this is not the case with Pickens. He is a very smooth athlete who has the fluidity and control to do what he needs to do, but he does not use levels very well off of the line or on route breaks. He plays higher than his movement patterns indicate that he could, and will have to work on dropping low before accelerating on the split step he frequently uses if he wants to maximize its effectiveness.
Hands	Catch Reliability	8.5	Most of his drops appear to come in contested catch situations as a freshman. He has overall solid hands that could easily be elite, as he shows comfort in catching the ball both with his hands and his body.
	Catch Radius	9	Not only is Pickens 6'3, but he can make very difficult catches away from his body both high and low. Contested Catch - This would be a 10/10 based on height, body control, and athleticism, but there are two mild concerns. First, he has the ball bounce off of his hands occasionally despite getting in position to make the difficult catch. This was a significantly bigger issue early on in his freshman year than it was in his more recent tape. Second, he is not the strongest wide receiver. He will need to spend a good amount of time in the weight room if he plans on out-positioning corners that may have some mass on him.
Versatility	Starting Position	5	Pickens can line up in the slot, but likely will be limited to an outside only role in the NFL.
	Overall Skill Set	6	The former five star recruit has the perfect skillset for a perimeter receiver. He is 6'3, has an extensive route tree, and knows how to read a defense. The only concern for playing outside is that he is only 195lbs. He is a very physical player who plays stronger than his lanky body would suggest, but he may have a harder time dealing with the larger NFL outside cornerbacks. He will likely need to put on some mass if he wants to maintain his more physical playstyle. While he has taken snaps from the slot, he is not going to play inside very often at the next level. He is certainly no gadget player, and will never take backfield snaps. He will have one role in the NFL as an outside receiver, but he has the tools to become excellent at that one important role.
RAC	Athleticism	8	Pickens lacks suddenness and linear speed, but he is clearly an athlete. He looks and plays like an athlete, just feeling out what he should do on any given play. He knows when to make guys miss and when to run through them. His combine metrics may not be overly impressive, but Pickens is a very fluid athlete on the field.
	Agility	6	Surprisingly elusive after the catch for 6'3. He is no superstar after the catch, but knows how to make a guy miss in space.
	Contact Balance	8	He is not going to shed many tackles, but his contact balance is very impressive. For every play that he trips himself up in the open field, there is another play where he bounces off of a defender and reaches for extra yardage. This does not lead to him breaking big plays in the open field, but being able to get the extra yard or two can be quite valuable.
Awareness	Sideline	10	Almost always tapped both feet in bounds even though it is not necessary in college ball. He makes sideline catches more reliably than anyone in class.
	Defensive Scheme	9	Pickens may not consciously analyze the defense before every play, but he always knows where to be. He does not have the best route running moves, but can almost always gain necessary yardage when needed.
	Improvisation	5	Not observed much throughout his film. He would keep moving against zone, but never did anything spectacular to help his quarterback extend the play.

Full Report:

Pickens is an intriguing prospect because he seems to play mostly by feel. His change of direction and route breaks are nothing special, but his body language and some quick reactions to what the corner gives allow him to gain advantages over his competition. He may lack twitch, linear speed, and has an unimpressive vertical, but he can contort his body unlike anyone else in the league. He plays football like an athlete, and is very confident in his abilities. He thinks that he is the best player on the field, and his athleticism becomes clear when he bullies cornerbacks on consecutive plays despite only weighing 195lbs. That said, he lacks the ability to reliably separate downfield, and does not have any go-to moves to guarantee a step on any given route. He is frequently blanketed from press on short, intermediate, and deep routes, and lacks suddenness or top-end speed to overcome this lack of initial acceleration. This is not to say that he does not find ways to get open against all types of coverage on occasion, but plays much worse into man than he does against zone in general. Pickens has the potential to be an excellent possession receiver despite his average route running. He knows how to get the necessary yards, using physicality and contorting his body to make the most out of every play. If he had gone back to college for one more year, he may have improved to the point of being a first round prospect. With mostly freshman and sophomore tape, he is at best a mid second round talent with a lot of room to grow. He could become excellent, but it is a lot to gamble after hardly seeing any quality tape in over a year.

NFL Projection:

Pickens is going to be drafted to be a starting parameter receiver. He is going to struggle early, but will improve with some technique and experience against greater competition. He will likely gain some weight within his first few years in the league, which should help with his physical playstyle. He has a low floor as a slower prospect coming off of an injury, but his ceiling is high as a potential featured number one receiver in an offense.