Cleveland Browns NFL Draft Profile: George Pickens, WR Georgia
The Amari Cooper trade doesn't take the Browns out of the running for a wide receiver at pick #44, and if he's on the board, Georgia's George Pickens would be difficult to pass on.
The Cleveland WR room will look totally different in 2022, as Donovan Peoples-Jones and Anthony Schwartz are the lone holdovers. Amari Cooper is the new top target, with return man Jakeem Grant figuring to factor in somehow.
The Browns will certainly add at least one rookie WR, possibly two, and they'll likely consider the field at pick #44. One player who could be available at that spot is Pickens, who enters the draft after a 2021 campaign in which he played in only four games and caught just five passes. He suffered a torn ACL in spring practice last year, but was able to return to game action in just about eight months.
A five-star recruit in 2019, Pickens caught 49 passes for 727 yards and eight touchdowns as a true freshman in the SEC, a performance that had his NFL future looking extremely bright. He followed that up with a solid sophomore year before his junior season was robbed due to his injury.
Pickens has great size at 6-3 195 pounds with room to add weight to his frame. He's explosive, has good long speed, and has better feet and hips than most players his height.
George Pickens Relative Athletic Score
He isn't a burner, but Pickens has more than enough speed to win deep and to at least keep the defense honest, similar to Peoples-Jones, who has averaged 18.8 yards per reception through two NFL seasons.
Pickens' hands are strong and reliable (two drops on 139 career targets) and his ball skills are excellent. He adjusts well to backshoulder and inaccurate throws, works back to the ball, and fights through contact.
As a route runner, he is still very raw, but does have an innate ability to create separation even if his routes aren't the most precise. He has the short-area quickness and agility to become a very good route runner for his size, and if he is able to do that, he has the potential to become one of the better receivers in the league.
Cleveland will need to make sure they are happy with his recovery, but if medicals check out, Pickens would be an excellent pick at 44 and could make an instant impact on the outside with the ability to develop into a WR1 down the road. He just turned 21 in March, so his age is definitely a positive.
A group of Cooper, Peoples-Jones, and Pickens would give Deshaun Watson three targets with good size and field-stretching ability who can play on the boundary or in the slot, and if Anthony Schwartz can continue to develop, along with David Njoku, Harrison Bryant, and Kareem Hunt, not to mention Demetric Felton and anyone else who gets added to the skill room, Cleveland's passing attack will be extremely difficult to slow down.
Pickens is one of the most talented receivers in the class, and if he falls to 44, the Browns would do well to scoop him up and reap the rewards.
