3 bold predictions for the Steelers 2022 season

2. Steelers bold prediction: George Pickens leads team in receiving

Pittsburgh has made a habit out of finding wide receiver talent outside of the first round throughout the years. Whether it’s been Antonio Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Diontae Johnson or Chase Claypool — the latter two still being on the roster — they have consistently found highly productive players later in the draft than you might expect.

And so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that, when they selected former Georgia wide receiver George Pickens in the second round of the draft this year, that he’s already looking like an absolute stud.

Throughout training camp and in preseason action, Pickens has been a dominant pass-catcher in this offense, turning heads at basically every chance that he could to this point. The big question, though, has been how that would continue once the regular season got underway given that he is likely still behind Johnson and Claypool in the pecking order.

For this prediction, though, Pickens won’t be behind in the pecking order for long. Particularly if the first prediction comes true and the pair of rookies can flex the connection they’ve built in the offseason, the Georgia product is going to be a massive force even in the regular season.

His talent has never been in question but he slipped in the draft due to his lack of time on the field in college. Now that he’s good to rock, though, he’ll surpass Johnson and Claypool as the most productive receiver in the Steelers offense.