Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens has pulled off a remarkable acrobatic catch during the team’s minicamp sessions.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are going through something of a ‘reset’ on the offensive side of the ball as they are building for the future having relied so heavily on the arm of Ben Roethlisberger since he became the starter during the 2004 season.

The latest step to addressing the future was the drafting of Kenny Pickett with their 1st round pick in this year’s draft and then using their 2nd round pick on wide receiver George Pickens out of the University of Georgia, which combined with the players brought over from last year, means that they have an incredibly young attacking unit to work with:

Having lost JuJu Smith-Schuster this offseason to the Kansas City Chiefs and James Washington to the Dallas Cowboys in free agency wide receiver was a position of need for them to address, but given his history, the pick of Pickens might be something of a risk.

Not the smoothest of rides to the big leagues

Pickens’ first two seasons in college football were not the most productive, although there were some extenuating circumstances, such as the shortened season in 2020 as a result of the pandemic, meaning he was only able to make 85 catches across his freshman and sophomore years which turned into 1,240 yards and 14 touchdowns. 

Whilst his 3rd and final season was disrupted by an ACL injury that he suffered in the spring, meaning that he could only play 4 games, which meant he could only make 5 catches for 107 yards as the Bulldogs won the College Football Playoff. 

Making up for lost time

So his time was limited, but there was clearly something there that the Steelers liked, otherwise they wouldn’t have risked a 2nd round pick on him, and he looks to be showing what he’s made of already.

Taking part in a drill during Steelers minicamp, he showed great poise to not only make a catch that was rather high for him, but also show composure to secure the catch and not fumble the ball as he adjusted his body whilst falling:

If he can pull off stuff like this in a real game, then the Steelers might well have a gem on their hands.