April 29, 2022. Las Vegas. The air was thick with the kind of tension you only find in a room full of millionaires waiting for a phone call. George Pickens sat there, waiting. He was the guy everyone knew had first-round "stuff" but second-round "baggage."
When the Pittsburgh Steelers finally turned in the card for the 52nd overall pick, the draft room at the Caesars Forum didn't explode. It felt more like a collective "uh-oh" from the rest of the AFC North. The Steelers, notorious for finding wide receiver gold in the middle rounds, had just landed a 6-foot-3 physical marvel from the University of Georgia who played like he had a permanent chip on his shoulder.
Honestly, it's wild he was even there at 52.
If you look back at the 2022 draft landscape, the wide receiver class was absolutely loaded. Drake London, Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, Jameson Williams—they all went in the top 12. Jahan Dotson and Treylon Burks followed shortly after. By the time George Pickens was getting drafted, the league had already seen six receivers go off the board. Why the slide? It basically came down to two things: a shredded knee and a reputation for being a bit of a hothead.
The ACL Tear That Changed the Board
In March 2021, Pickens was the undisputed alpha at Georgia. He was coming off a monster freshman year and a solid sophomore campaign where he'd already put enough "circus catches" on tape to make NFL scouts drool. Then, during a non-contact drill in spring practice, his right ACL gave out.
Most guys would have packed it in. They would have sat out the season, focused on the 2022 Combine, and protected their draft stock. Not George.
🔗 Read more: Who Won the Golf Tournament This Weekend: Richard T. Lee and the 2026 Season Kickoff
Pickens pushed a recovery timeline that defied modern medicine. He was back on the field in eight months. He didn't just come back to stand on the sidelines; he suited up for the regular-season finale against Georgia Tech and played through the College Football Playoff. That 52-yard bomb he caught against Alabama in the National Championship? That wasn't just a big play. It was a message to NFL GMs: "My knee is fine. Stop overthinking this."
Yet, teams still overthought it. They looked at his 4.47-second 40-yard dash at the Combine and thought it was "just okay" for a guy with his height. They worried about his thin frame—roughly 195 pounds at the time—and wondered if he could handle the "bully ball" of the NFL.
The "Character" Question
Then there was the other stuff. You've probably seen the highlights—or lowlights—of his college days. There was the fight against Georgia Tech that got him suspended for the first half of the SEC Championship. There was the water-squirting incident against Tennessee.
Scouts called him "emotionally volatile."
His supporters called him "ultra-competitive."
In the NFL, that's a fine line. Teams like the Steelers, though? They've historically loved that edge. Mike Tomlin has a PhD in managing "big personalities," and he saw a guy who blocked like a pulling guard and caught everything within a five-mile radius. While other teams were busy vetting his temper, the Steelers were watching him pancake cornerbacks into the turf.
💡 You might also like: The Truth About the Memphis Grizzlies Record 2025: Why the Standings Don't Tell the Whole Story
Why 51 Picks Happened Without Him
It's sort of funny to look at the names called before him now. Skyy Moore went 54th, just after Pickens. Christian Watson went 34th. Wan'Dale Robinson went 43rd.
The consensus in many war rooms was that Pickens was a "X-receiver" only—a guy who lives on the boundary and runs a limited route tree. At Georgia, he basically ran go-routes, hitches, and back-shoulders. According to data from Steelers Depot, over 56% of his college targets were just hitches and fades. NFL teams are often terrified of "one-trick ponies," even if that one trick is jumping over a defender's head to snatch a ball out of the stratosphere.
There's also the "Stetson Bennett factor." Georgia’s offense under Todd Monken was built on efficiency and a punishing run game. They didn't need Pickens to catch 100 balls to win a ring. Because his stats weren't gaudy (he never had a 1,000-yard season in Athens), the spreadsheets didn't scream "superstar" the way they did for someone like Chris Olave.
The Steelers' Masterstroke
When the phone call finally came, it was Mike Tomlin on the other end. The fit was perfect. Pittsburgh had just lost JuJu Smith-Schuster, James Washington, and Ray-Ray McCloud in free agency. They needed a dawg.
Drafting Pickens at 52 wasn't just about filling a roster spot; it was about maintaining an identity. The Steelers have this weird, almost supernatural ability to identify WR talent in the second round. Think about the lineage:
📖 Related: The Division 2 National Championship Game: How Ferris State Just Redrew the Record Books
- Antwaan Randle El (2002)
- Santonio Holmes (okay, he was a 1st, but stay with me)
- Mike Wallace (3rd round)
- Emmanuel Sanders (3rd round)
- JuJu Smith-Schuster (2nd round)
- Diontae Johnson (3rd round)
George Pickens was the next evolution. He brought a level of "combat catch" ability that the team hadn't seen since the prime days of Martavis Bryant (minus the off-field hurdles).
What Really Happened in the War Room?
Rumor has it that several teams had Pickens as a top-20 talent on their board but moved him down due to "medical red flags." It’s the classic draft-day trap. Teams get so focused on the 5% chance of a re-injury that they ignore the 95% chance that the kid is the best athlete on the field.
During his rookie year, Pickens immediately started making everyone look stupid. Remember that one-handed snag against the Browns on Thursday Night Football? The one where he was horizontal, parallel to the ground, looking like the NBA logo?
That's the guy 31 teams passed on. Some of them passed on him twice.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Scouts
If you’re looking back at the George Pickens draft story to understand how the NFL evaluates talent today, there are some pretty clear takeaways.
- Medical over-cautiousness is a market inefficiency. If a player returns from an ACL and plays in a National Championship game six months later, the "medical red flag" is often more about insurance than actual on-field performance.
- The "Diva" label is often overblown. Teams that value "dogs" over "choir boys" usually win more jump balls. If a receiver is fighting cornerbacks, he’s probably also fighting for the football.
- Context matters more than stats. Pickens played in a run-heavy Georgia offense with a former walk-on quarterback. Judging his ceiling based on his college box scores was a massive mistake by draft analysts.
If you’re following the league today, watch how teams handle "risky" receivers in the 2026 draft. Are they dodging guys with "character concerns," or are they looking for the next George Pickens? The smart money usually bets on the talent and trusts the coaching to handle the rest.
Keep an eye on the trade market, too. Since Pickens’ rookie contract is such a bargain compared to his production, his "draft value" has essentially tripled since that night in Vegas. Whether he stays a Steeler for life or eventually follows the path of other star wideouts, the 2022 draft will always be remembered as the night the league let a superstar fall right into Pittsburgh's lap.