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George Pickens Injury History & Updates

Basic StatsGeorge Pickens's Basic Stats

George Pickens
ADP: 7.7
Bye: 6
Experience: 1 Yr(s)
Age: 22.5
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 200
40 Time: 4.47
Burst Score (Rank): 121.20 (50%)

Injury PredictorGeorge Pickens's Injury Guide

Low Risk

Chance of Injury in 2023

33%

% chance misses at least 2 quarters

Chance of Injury per Game

2.3%

1- 17√1-% Inj/Season

Projected Games Missed 2023

1.22

Durability

1.36

Ability to produce despire relatively minor injuries. 5 being most durable

Injury analysis powered by Draft Sharks Injury Guide, formerly SIP Logo

Injury History

Date League Injury Details
Oct 17, 2020 Non-NFL Shoulder During the UGA's October 17 loss to Alabama, Pickens suffered an upper-body injury. He missed two games
Mar 23, 2021 Non-NFL Knee ACL Tear Grade 3 Pickens suffered a torn ACL during spring practice.

Basic StatsGeorge Pickens's Preseason Player Analysis

View WR Fantasy Rankings »
Bottom Line

Pickens is better for SportsCenter than he is for fantasy at this stage in his career.

Though he logged some decent production as a rookie, he’ll need to take a step forward developmentally before anyone can be excited about him as anything more than a boom/bust WR4.

What We Learned Last Year
  • Pickens was selected by the Steelers with the 52nd pick of the 2022 NFL Draft.
  • Throughout last season, Pickens recorded many highlight reel-worthy catches. As flashy as he appeared to be in spurts on tape, his fantasy impact was the textbook definition of boom/bust.
  • He finished his rookie season with six total fantasy finishes as a WR3 or better and nine outside the top 50.
  • Even after the Steelers traded WR Chase Claypool to the Bears at the NFL trade deadline, Pickens’ production largely remained the same:
    • Week 1 - Week 9: 15.1% target share, 26% air yards share, 8.2 PPR points per game
    • Week 10 - Week 18: 15.9% target share, 29.9% air yards share, 11.0 PPR points per game
  • All in all, he didn’t stand out too much among his 2022 peers. Among the nine rookie WRs who received 50+ targets in 2022, Pickens ranked:
    • 4th in receiving yards (801)
    • 7th in Pro Football Focus receiving grade
  • If you zoom out and look at how Pickens ranked among the 50 NFL WRs who saw 80+ targets last year, he ranked:
    • 38th in drop rate (7.1%)
    • 49th in yards after catch (110)
    • 40th in PFF receiving grade
  • The most troubling part of this picture is the 109.3 passer rating Pickens saw on his passes when targeted. The quality of targets he received was generally quite good, yet the spotty delivery on production raises red flags about Pickens’ individual performance.
What to Expect in 2023
  • At this stage in his career, Pickens is nothing more than a jump ball king. He ranked first in contest catch rate (67.9%) among WRs with 80+ targets last year, and that’s about it as far as his standout traits go.
  • Pickens is second or third in line for targets in a Steelers offense that finished the 2022 season 27th in pass rate following their bye week.
  • He’s still a decent dynasty league asset, but Pickens’ 2023 outlook suggests he’s a WR4 with greater use in a best-ball format.

Recent Injury Bites View All Shark Bites »

Kenny Pickett, QB PIT

8:17am EDT 10/2/23

Kenny Pickett "will miss some time"

Steelers QB Kenny Pickett "will miss some time" with his knee injury, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. How much time will depend on the results of Monday's MRI. The Steelers don't believe Pickett's ACL is damaged, but there's concern about the MCL and meniscus, Rapoport says. "The belief is that this is not a season-ending situation." We should have a more concrete timeline for Pickett's return by the end of Monday. QB Mitchell Trubisky will step in as Pittsburgh's starter for however long Pickett is out. Trubisky completed 65.0% of his passes at 7.0 yards per attempt across four starts and seven total appearances for the Steelers last year.

View all Kenny Pickett Shark Bites »

Steelers WR Diontae Johnson (hamstring) has been ruled out for Monday night's game vs. the Browns. Insider Gerry Dulac reported earlier this week that Johnson is expected to miss four weeks, although he hasn't been placed on IR. That means the Steelers think Johnson has a chance to be back before four weeks. WR George Pickens was added to the injury report on Saturday with a hamstring and limited in practice. But he has no game designation, so he's expected to play vs. Cleveland. Pickens, Allen Robinson, and Calvin Austin will be Pittsburgh's top three WRs with Johnson out.

View all Diontae Johnson Shark Bites »

Steelers insider Gerry Dulac hears that WR Diontae Johnson is expected to miss four weeks with his hamstring injury. If that's the case, we could see Johnson land on IR on Saturday. He's still worth keeping stashed on fantasy benches. Johnson's absence opens up opportunity for WRs George Pickens, Allen Robinson, and Calvin Austin, plus TE Pat Freiermuth.

View all Diontae Johnson Shark Bites »

Steelers WR Diontae Johnson is expected to miss “a few weeks” with a hamstring injury, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Allen Robinson led the Steelers in targets and yards on Sunday. But for now, George Pickens and Pat Freiermuth remain the only pass catchers worth using in fantasy lineups. Just note: Week 2 turns up a tough test vs. a Browns defense that just dominated the Bengals.

View all Diontae Johnson Shark Bites »

Steelers QB Kenny Pickett (concussion) will start this weekend's game vs. the Raiders, HC Mike Tomlin said Tuesday. It sounds like Pickett still has 1 more step to pass protocol, so we'll keep an eye on his practice participation this week. Vegas ranks 30th in adjusted fantasy points allowed to QBs, but Pickett hasn't shown enough this season to be more than a mid-range QB2 for Week 16.

View all Kenny Pickett Shark Bites »

How do Injuries impact your draft strategy?

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The Draft War Room is the only live-sync draft tool that monitors 17 crucial in-draft indicators, including injury likelihood… and adapts to show you which players to pick throughout your draft.

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