Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Kenny Pickett’s connection with wide receiver Jordan Addison in his final season at the University of Pittsburgh was a special one that led to Addison winning the Biletnikoff award as the nation’s best wide receiver and Pickett finishing top-three in Heisman voting. Addison transferred to USC for his junior season, and while his numbers weren’t as explosive as they were with Pickett (100 receptions, 1,595 yards, 17 touchdowns) he still managed a respectable 59 catches for 875 yards and eight touchdowns with Heisman winner Caleb Williams throwing him the rock. Addison declared for the draft earlier today and on Cameron Heyward’s Not Just Football podcast, Pickett talked about possibly reuniting with his former teammate in the NFL and what he offers the team he lands with.
“That would be awesome,” Pickett said about Addison joining him with the Steelers. “We talked about playing in the NFL together while we were at Pitt, that’s like the college teammates dream, especially a quarterback/receiver, that kind of dynamic,” he added.
He also talked about how Addison’s speed will be a weapon in the NFL.
“He’s probably gonna run low 4.3s, maybe high 4.29, 4.28 if he’s got a good start. He’s got that kind of speed. I think people are kind of underestimating his speed. And the thing about Jordan is he runs routes at that speed. There’s some guys who run 4.3 but they don’t play at that speed. That’s what’s impressive about him, is that he plays at that speed, he’s in and out of cuts at that speed,” he said.
There’s no question that the Steelers will be in the market for a wide receiver alongside George Pickens and Diontae Johnson this offseason. The question will be whether or not they value Addison highly enough to spend their first-round pick on him. The Steelers have the No. 32 overall pick as a result of the Chase Claypool trade, which this year is the first pick in the second round due to the Miami Dolphins’ losing their first-rounder this year. That gives the Steelers some flexibility, but with needs also along the defensive line, at cornerback and inside linebacker, it’ll come down to whether or not the Steelers think Addison is more valuable to them than possibly adding somebody at another position of need.
Obviously, it would be a move that would make Pickett happy as he would get his old favorite target and friend back in the fold, and this isn’t the first time he’s talked about wanting to play with Addison. We’ve seen college QB-WR connections that worked in college work in the NFL, recently with Joe Burrow and JaMarr Chase building off what they had at LSU now working with the Cincinnati Bengals. Addison profiles as a likely slot receiver in the NFL as well, which is what the Steelers are going to be looking for this offseason. So the possibility is certainly there, although I think it might be wise for the Steelers to address other needs in the draft ahead of wide receiver in the early rounds.
It’s going to be an interesting offseason and Addison to Pittsburgh is a move that will certainly be talked about a lot ahead of the draft.
