Bear Digest

An Ideal Fit if Bears Get Fortunate

Georgia wide receiver George Pickens has many of the attributes the Bears are looking for in a pass catcher and seems to have the answers to questions critics could have about him.

Gene Chamberlain

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Teams needing a true X-receiver on the outside with great verticality automatically look in this draft at George Pickens of Georgia.

Questions exist about Pickens and these are the reasons most mock draft and analysts have him going either at the end of Round 1 or in Round 2 instead of above four or five other top receivers. Most of those questions revolve around his health, and they should considering Pickens came off a torn ACL last year.

"Yeah, I feel like it set me back in other teams' minds, because everybody knows how serious the ACL is," Pickens told reporters at the NFL draft. "Odell (Beckham Jr.) had it. It's a really critical part of the body.

"But in terms of me personally, it didn't set me back at all. I still have a first-round mentality."

If Pickens' mentality is in sync with the thoughts of other teams, he would likely get selected before the first Bears pick at No. 39.

There really should be little or no question about Pickens' health because he proved what he could do last season. He suffered the ACL tear in spring practice but still came back in a little over eight months to play in four games for the Bulldogs.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, his knee surger was conducted by renowned surgeon James Andrews. The article reported Andrews is now using stem cells and blood plasma to accelerate recovery from ACL tears and it has sped up the process three to four months.

If the Bears drafted Pickens, he wouldn't be coming in like Allen Robinson in 2018, still trying to get over the effects of his surgery. Instead, by the time training camp starts he will be about 16 months removed from surgery, one he had recovered from already last season enough to be a big factor in Georgia's run to a national title.

"I bring to the game a few attributes a few other guys don't have—size, speed and they just really want to know how you can develop in their system," Pickens told reporters.

Pickens was back enough at the end of February to run a 4.47 40-yard dash at the combine and do 33 inches in a vertical leap. His numbers on both figure to improve as he gets deeper into his recovery. What he posted wasn't bad at all. Only a few receivers at 6-foot-1 or taller went faster in the combine 40. Notre Dame's 6-2 Kevin Austin, Cincinnati's 6-3 Alec Pierce and North Dakota State's 6-3 Christian Watson were among them. Northern Iowa's Isaiah Weston is 6-4 and ran 4.42 but isn't regarded as the type of receiver any of those others are.

"When it comes to flexibility in routes and not just like a deep ball guy, I'm a big guy that can move," Pickens said.

The vertical is where Pickens was down due to his surgery. The 33 inches was well below the phenomenal 40.5-inch leap of Pierce or even 36 1/2 inches performed by 4.28-second speed demon Tyquan Thornton of Baylor.

When Pickens returned, he only made five catches in four games without a TD.

He's not a player with a huge stat resume, as he had just 85 catches for 1,240 yards with healthy 14.5-yard average in his first two years. What he really did then was elevate and angle in the red zone as 14 of his 85 receptions went for TDs.

It's that limited 24 games of college exposure which also leads to questions about Pickens.

Bears fans might also worry about the offense he comes from because they've seen Riley Ridley and Javon Wims come from Georgia in the draft without really accomplishing a great deal.

He has strengths right in line with a different former Bear—Robinson.

"Contested catches, catching over the middle, drawing penalties, I'm really good at drawing penalties on DBs," he said.

What no one should worry about is Pickens' hands.

According to Pro Football Focus stats, Pickens dropped only 2.1% of passes thrown his way, a better rate than any of the top receivers in this draft.

So how would all of this translate into what the Bears are doing on offense?

Pickens likes comparing himself to someone who has played in an offense very similar and worked with their current offensive coordinator, Luke Getsy.

"Yeah, I watch Davante Adams a lot," Pickens said. "I'm bigger than Davante Adams. That's kind of the lane I kind of want to go into because with the size I am, a guy who can move is almost unguardable."

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There are a few other factors that could draw a team like the Bears to Pickens. One is something else being stressed in their new offense, and that's blocking for receivers or backs.

"Me just blocking has always been a part of the program, a part of the scheme of the team, and I've always been physical," Pickens said. "That's one of the things I can also add to my game besides pass catching and besides going deep.

"Blocking is for sure one of the things I pride myself on."

Pickens also thinks of himself as possing other qualities Matt Eberflus and GM Ryan Poles have stressed with players they've acquired so far in free agency. They have been team-oriented overachievers with an edge to their game.

"I play with a chip on my shoulder," Pickens said. "And that's how I've always been. That's how I'm always gonna be."

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

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