There were always great expectations for UGA 5-star signee George Pickens, even before last month’s stunning turn of events that led to the abrupt dismissal of the Bulldogs’ top receiver.
It looks like you can certainly count Jake Fromm on the Pickens’ bandwagon, too.
The Georgia quarterback compared the freshman’s potential to one of the all-time greats to ever play receiver for the Bulldogs, per CBS Sports’ Brad Nessler in a radio interview with 92.9 FM The Game’s Chris Goforth.
“Pickens especially kind of lit (Fromm’s) eyes up — (Fromm) said Pickens could be ‘the next A.J. Green,’” Nessler said about his recent conversation with Fromm.
“I said ‘Come on, you haven’t even thrown him a pass yet.’ (Fromm) said, ‘Yeah, but I am going to …”
Actually, Fromm has thrown plenty of passes to Pickens this summer during offseason workouts, so Fromm certainly has seen enough to formulate a strong opinion.
Fromm’s train of thought echoes the opinion of Terrence Edwards, who still holds the UGA school records in both career receiving yards and touchdowns catches. Edwards told DawgNation that Pickens was “a true No. 1 receiver.”
Of course, who knows how Pickens will perform when the games begin? But ringing endorsements from Fromm and Edwards can’t be anything but good news for UGA, as the receiver position is considered to be the weak link on offense with so many unproven players. Another freshman signee, Dominick Blaylock, could also see early playing time.
Earlier this week at SEC Media Days, Georgia coach Kirby Smart was asked about Pickens, who famously flipped from Auburn to the Bulldogs on signing day. Smart offered some insight on the last-minute switch:
“He came over to our place for several football games. He knew what he wanted. He knew what style offense he wanted to play in. He saw an opportunity when he saw two guys declare early for the draft in Mecole (Hardman) and Riley (Ridley) and Terry Godwin leave and then Isaac Nauta, there was a lot of touches there available, and I know he wanted to have an opportunity to play with a quarterback like Jake Fromm.”
Fromm joked about his relationship with Pickens at SEC Media Days, per al.com’s Sam Blum.
“George is great, a great football player, coming in and doing a great job of learning,” Fromm said. “The relationship with me and George, it would be a lot better if he would text me back. It’s very good at the moment.”