Top Dawg Take: Georgia Has Options, But Can they Replace George Pickens?
Georgia’s National Championship hopes in 2021 were dealt a terrible blow when news broke that star receiver George Pickens tore his ACL and required surgery. While no timeline has been issued regarding Pickens’ potential return, he will likely miss the 2021 season.
Everyone knows Pickens’ story as he swapped from rival Auburn to Georgia on signing day, giving the Dawgs a premier receiver as a freshman. While it has seemed like a rollercoaster at times during George’s time in Athens, there is no doubt he is a playmaker.
Pickens flourished in the four games that JT Daniels started at quarterback. JT and Pickens built a connection on the deep ball as Pickens was the bailout for JT throughout those four games; whether it was with pressure in his face or on a critical third down, JT trusted that if he threw it up, Pickens would come down with the pass.
The Daniels to Pickens hotline was instrumental in wins over Mississippi State, Missouri, and the Peach Bowl win over Cinncinatti. The critics of the former five-star receiver out of Hoover, Alabama, were silenced as he rode the coattails of his best stretch of games in the red and black.
With Pickens down and likely out for the season, it creates even more questions for the Georgia offense. Although the Dawgs return one of the deepest and talented receiving cores in the country in 2021, can any of the young stars replace the effect and playmaking ability of George Pickens?
Georgia returns rising sophomore Jermaine Burton in 2021; Burton started the majority of the 2020 season as the Z receiver opposite of George. Burtons is one of the top candidates to replace the Hoover native at the X position. Along with Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint, assuming he is fully healthy by the time fall ball rolls around this coming August.
Rosemy-Jacksaint showed promise in his limited snaps against Florida before a leg injury knocked him out of season after catching his first career touchdown in Athens.
With Burton and Rosemy likely moving up the depth chart to occupy the X, that leaves the Z open for competition. A returning Dominick Blaylock is an early favorite for the position after recovering from a second ACL injury past fall.
Leaving Kearis Jackson and Arian Smith battling it out in the slot. Jackson was an early favorite of former starter Stetson Bennett out of the slot position. Jackson racked up his most productive season to date in a Georgia uniform. While the speedster Arian Smith came on late in the season as he connected with Daniels on a couple of shots downfield.
Add in athletic tight end Darnell Washington; Georgia has a long list of air attack options this season. But finding a guy who can go up and bring down the 50-50 balls that George excelled at will be a struggle. There is not a guy on the roster currently that can go out there and replace Pickens. Georgia will have to get creative to create explosive plays without a lot of the jump balls.
Daniels does an excellent job of identifying his matchups pre-snap and targeting that matchup. He still has a lot of work to do in his post-snap reads, which means he will continue to develop. Throwing open his receivers will be critical in 2021 for a Georgia offense without George Pickens.