While most of the fourth-round receivers enter the league fighting to make the roster, the Cincinnati Bengals may have found one of the most fascinating sleeper picks from the 2026 NFL Draft.

Entering the fold on the fourth-year, $5.18 million rookie deal, Colbie Young arrives in the Queen City, drawing a lot of buzz around the league. And it's not just because of his physical tools, but because analysts believe that the talent level is far higher than where he was drafted.

Some scouts are already connecting his game to George Pickens.

The comparison mostly sparks with the physical traits. Like Pickens, Young brings a combination of size, speed, and catch radius that instantly stands out. With sub-4.5 speed at his size, he is also a vertical threat who can take the top off a defence.

Another reason for the comparison would be the Georgia Bulldogs football connection. Both receivers developed in Georgia's pro-style system before entering the NFL.

NFL Draft analyst Todd McShay recently talked about Young during The McShay Show on The Ringer. He explained why Cincinnati may have landed a major value pick late in the draft.

“I’ve watched Colbie Young when he’s right, and he’s so much different than any other receiver you would have gotten on Day 3 of this draft, physically and talent-wise,” McShay said.

McShay also acknowledged the concerns surrounding Young’s maturity and off-field history. “Can be a handful, all of that, right?”, added McShay.

But even with those concerns, McShay still saw similarities to Pickens’ upside.

“There’s more meat on the bone with this guy than what we saw in college production. It’s about getting him in and getting him focused,” the analyst noted.

Young's fall to No. 140 overall was not only about his talents. Injuries and some off-field concerns made a few teams hesitant, even with all the upside he had shown.

That is one of the reasons some analysts started comparing his situation to George Pickens' own draft process. Just like Young, in Pickens' case, talent was never the concern.

Colbie Young’s College Stats and Path to Cincinnati

Before arriving at the Cincinnati Bengals, Colbie Young took a pretty long road through college football. Across different programs, he finished with 116 catches, 1,437 yards, and 13 touchdowns while steadily building attention around his game.

Young first started by making noise at Lackawanna College. He averaged almost 20 yards per catch and quickly caught the eyes of bigger college programs.

From there, he transferred to Miami Hurricanes football and became one of the Hurricanes’ more reliable receivers. The WR led his team in touchdown catches during the 2022 season.

His final stop came at the Georgia Bulldogs football. According to reports from Georgia’s season, injuries and a suspension limited his time on the field, including a leg fracture in 2025.

Still, Young had briefly emerged as one of Georgia’s top targets before the injury, especially inside the red zone.

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Written by

Debanjali Rakshit

Edited by

Arundhoti Palit