The Pittsburgh Steelers have their first taste of preseason action in 2022 coming their way on Saturday as they take on the Seattle Seahawks at Acrisure Stadium. With Pittsburgh entering the "new era" of a young, but potentially explosive offense, there's a few players that fans and analysts are excited to see take their first professional snaps. The Steelers 2022 NFL Draft second-round pick WR George Pickens has flashed superstar potential so far during training camp in Latrobe. Head Coach Mike Tomlin is setting expectations for Pickens as the new league year approaches.
George Pickens makes an acrobatic catch over Levi Wallace in camp 0n Wednesday in Latrobe, PA (Twitter: Matt Freed/@mattfreedpghpg)
In a recent segment on Good Morning Football (GMFB) on NFL Network, analyst Peter Schrager discussed his top 5 players to watch in this weekend's preseason action.
"Steelers' second round pick and camp sensation, Mr. George Pickens," Schrager introduced the rookie wide receiver into the segment. "Speed demon," new GMFB host Jamie Erdahl chimed in. "Speed demon is right, George Pickens led the Georgia Bulldogs as a freshman in just about every statistical category, then the COVID season, then had an ACL, and then he gets [to be a] second round pick," Schrager continued."What's he done the last 10 days? Basically taken Pittsburgh by storm. Is this Lynn Swann, is this Hines Ward? The way we hear George Pickens' name talked about, it's as if this guy is tearing up Latrobe."
"Alright, two-time leader in receiving touchdowns, we mentioned that, he was a five-star recruit, a top 25 national prospect. He's going to be in pads and he's going to be playing on Saturday night, it's on NFL Network, they play the Seahawks. George Pickens, is the hype real or not? We didn't hear a bunch about him in the draft process because of the injury, gets drafted second round, and now he's lighting things up. Cannot wait to see what he actually does on the field, first time we'll see him in more than 12 months."
Jordan Schofield/SteelerNation (@JSKO_PHOTO Twitter)
Pickens has surely stolen the show in Latrobe. He's dominated just about every defensive back that the coaching staff has put in front of him. He's received high praise since training camp has opened. With Schrager slightly joking, comparing Pickens to Swann and Ward, another analyst has compared him to another former All-Pro receiver Steeler Nation is quite familiar with.
Jordan Schofield/SteelerNation (@JSKO_PHOTO Twitter)
NFL analyst, Daniel Jeremiah has talked to people that have been around the Georgia program for quite some time, so they've seen a few impressive wide receivers enter the NFL.
“George Pickens, remember the name George Pickens,” Jeremiah said very matter-of-factly in the NFL Network segment. “I’m telling you guys, this dude is as talented as any young receiver we’ve seen come in. I know the production wasn’t there, he’d been injured, but when I have people at Georgia who have been around that program forever say, ‘This kid’s going to be better than A.J. Green,’ my ears perk up a little bit. And from everything that I’ve heard early on in camp, he’s somebody you better pay attention to!”
More high praise for the second-round pick! It doesn't matter if it's an exhibition game or not, these preseason games are the first snaps of hopefully long and prosperous NFL careers for players like Pickens. Check out Pickens for the first time in the black and gold on Saturday to see if the hype is in fact real!
What are yinz thoughts on Schrager naming Pickens as a top five player to watch in Week 1 preseason action? Let us know in the comment section below, or on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram!
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