Georgia football: George Pickens flips from Auburn, chooses Bulldogs
The first big surprise of national Signing Day includes five-star wide receiver George Pickens dumping Auburn and signing with Georgia football.
Just a month ago, adding another highly touted wide receiver to the 2019 recruiting class was a foreign concept. No one was on the market and the one’s who were, Georgia football didn’t seem to have the relationships needed to get their signature.
But around two weeks ago, the Georgia coaching staff began gaining momentum for five-star wide receiver George Pickens. According to him however, Georgia was always his no. 2 school, and he knew if he wasn’t going to Auburn, he’d head to Athens.
Obviously the team wanted him after losing Jadon Haselwood’s commitment and several upperclassmen receivers to the NFL draft. And their recruitment of Pickens was relentless leading up to national Signing Day. The unrelenting recruiting culture on the Georgia staff paid off again around 9:18 this morning when Pickens, who had been an Auburn commit since July of 2017, signed with the Dawgs.
The recruiting grades aren’t what drove head coach Kirby Smart and his staff towards the five-star from Hoover, Ala. He’s very similar to Haselwood, adds much needed size to Georgia’s corpse of wide receivers. But it’s what he does with that size that’s impressive. He can do all of the big target things like catch the jump balls and overpower smaller defensive backs on passes thrown in tight windows. But he also has some of the athleticism you’d expect from smaller receivers.
He doesn’t quite have that small receiver speed, but he makes up for what his 247Sports evaluation calls “Running-back like balance, vision and body control.” The evaluation goes on to describe him as a player who needs to get the ball and can turn any play into a big play.
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Pickens is a kind of player who can start as soon as possible for the Dawgs. And so is fellow 2019 receiver Dominick Blaylock. Together, they’ll help replenish the receivers the Dawgs lost to the NFL Draft. Pickens is ranked no. 24 overall and no. 4 out of all wide receivers according to 247Sports Composite. Blaylock is right behind him as the no. 5 receiver, ranked no. 36 overall.