PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Georgia wide receiver George Pickens with the No. 52 overall selection in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
Pickens is a 6-foot-3, 195-pound receiver from Hoover, Alabama. He left the Bulldogs after winning a national title in 2021. But Pickens played just four games, making five catches for 107 yards after suffering an ACL injury in the Georgia spring game on March 25.
He retuned to action for Georgia’s regular season finale against Georgia Tech on Nov. 27 and played in the SEC Championship Game, College Football Playoff and National Championship.
As a sophomore in 2020, he caught 36 passes for 513 yards and six touchdowns. As a freshman in 2019, he caught 49 passes for 727 yards and eight touchdowns.
Pickens ran a 4.47-second 40-yard draft at the 2022 NFL Combine, and posted a 33-inch vertical jump and a 125-inch broad jump.
The Steelers have a significant need at wide receiver after losing JuJu Smith-Schuster, James Washington and Ray-Ray McCloud to free agency. Pickens will join Chase Claypool, who announced his draft selection in Las Vegas, and Diontae Johnson in the Steelers’ projected starting lineup this season.
The Steelers continue to mine the second day of the draft for receiver talent. Smith-Schuster, Claypool, Johnson and Washington were all taken on day two.
Pickens was the betting favorite to be the first wide receiver taken on the drafts second day, but fell 20 picks to the Steelers, with three other receivers getting taken ahead of Pickens.