Odds are the Pittsburgh Steelers won’t be signing Kirk Cousins or Russell Wilson or any big-name free agent. It’s not their style and while their cap space situation isn’t dire, they aren’t teeming with money either. Instead, their free agency could look less exciting than their last two cycles. And it might just feature WR Mack Hollins.
While free agency remains six weeks away, Hollins feels like a future Steeler. Connecting the dots, he would add depth at wide receiver and follow Arthur Smith, his head coach in Atlanta this past season, to his new job in Pittsburgh.
A big-body at 6-foot-4 and 221 pounds coming out of North Carolina in 2017, Hollins has struggled to find NFL stability. Drafted by Philadelphia in the fourth round, he spent three years there, three years with Miami, and 2022 with the Las Vegas Raiders. There, he had a career year, playing over 1,000 snaps and catching 57 passes for 690 yards and four touchdowns. He parlayed that into signing with Smith’s Falcons for 2023. In their run-heavy system, his offensive production was limited, catching 18 passes but he averaged a healthy 13.9 yards per grab and served as a blocker and ace special teamer.
Here’s why Hollins making Pittsburgh his next stop makes sense:
1. He’s a big body and vertical threat
2. He can block in the run game
3. He’s a strong special teamer
4. He plays with effort and fits Smith’s ideals
5. Pittsburgh lacks WR depth
6. The Steelers had pre-draft interest
Hollins has always been a straight-line runner. He tested well at the NFL Scouting Combine, running a 4.53, and his top plays in the league have been running vertically. His career yards per reception sits at 12.9, a number that nearly touched 16 two years ago in Miami. Despite only having 131 career receptions, six of them have gone for 40-plus yards, including three of at least 60 yards.
His size also makes him an asset as a run blocker. Though Pro Football Focus’ grades are subjective, to try and quantify Hollins’ run blocking, he was rated as the seventh-best run-blocking wide receiver in 2022 and the 12th-best in 2020. Even in 2023, he was 25th out of 138 qualifiers. With his big frame and 33-plus-inch arms, he can get it done in the run game. Matching it with his tape, Hollins helped spring long gains and big plays.
Against the Indianapolis Colts, he sealed down the linebacker, No. 51, allowing RB Tyler Allgeier to hit the corner after this toss on this 31-yard touchdown run.
Hollins was schemed up different ways as a designed lead blocker in the Falcons’ run game. On this read option, he arcs around past the RDE, who is crashing down on the RB, to lead the way for QB Desmond Ridder to find the end zone.
And Hollins can find his man even when his block isn’t determined pre-snap. He picks up one of the “RBIs” Arthur Smith referenced in our breakdown of getting in the way along the sideline to spring RB Myles Gaskin to the house. A clip from his Miami days that helped bring him to Atlanta. Mack Hollins is No. 86 here, appearing at the bottom right of your screen post-catch.
The guy can block, is the point. His size and effort are what Smith wants in his wide receivers.
If you need another Steelers connection, one separate from Smith, Hollins was a Pittsburgh pre-draft visitor in 2017, coming in on April 13. The Steelers wound up taking a different bigger receiver that year in USC’s JuJu Smith-Schuster in the second round, making their interest in Hollins moot. But they certainly had it. He’s high character who attended a military school before transferring to North Carolina. In Chapel Hill he took out student loans, ate Ramen noodles to save money, and worked like crazy to finally earn a scholarship.
While Hollins wouldn’t be a feature piece in a Steelers offense that features Diontae Johnson and George Pickens, he could carve out a role on special teams. In 2023, he logged 136 special teams snaps with the Falcons. While he didn’t see as much time in 2022 with the Raiders because he was playing so much on offense, he recorded over 200 special teams snaps in 2020 and 2021 with the Dolphins. Offensively, he’s versatile enough to play outside or as a big slot inside. In 2023, over 22 percent of his offensive snaps came in the slot. The year before with the Raiders, over 14 percent of his snaps were inside.
Pittsburgh needs to add receiver depth. There’s little behind Johnson and Pickens. Allen Robinson II’s contract is untenable, and he won’t return under his current deal. Calvin Austin III had a quiet first year, his 72-yard touchdown catch aside, and doesn’t look like a great fit for this offense. Miles Boykin is a free agent and while he and Hollins have similar skill sets, Hollins has proven to be the more effective receiver in recent years. There are some practice squad names, Denzel Mims has always been interesting but never reached his potential. And Dez Fitzpatrick turned some heads in camp last year, showing chops as a special teamer/coverage guy.
Turning 31 in September, there won’t be an overwhelming market for Hollins. Even after a solid 2022 season with the Raiders, the Falcons signed him for cheap, a one-year, $2.5 million deal. He can be signed for the same or likely even less this year.
He knows the system, he fits the system, and Pittsburgh has a need. He doesn’t prevent the team from drafting a receiver, even if it’s less of a need (especially in the slot) than it felt prior to Smith being tabbed as the next OC. You could go into 2024 with a top five at receiver of:
1. Diontae Johnson
2. George Pickens
3. Mack Hollins
4. Calvin Austin III
5. Potential Draft Pick-UDFA/Futures Player
Is that an amazing group? No. But elite receiver depth isn’t the focus in Smith’s offense. Johnson and Pickens will do the heavy lifting while Hollins has his situational role, Austin will work in as a returner and a handful of offensive snaps, and we’ll see what the draft pick offers.
Hollins hits all the right notes. He can come in, be a mature presence, and demonstrate what Smith wants out of that group. Don’t be shocked if it happens. In fact, be surprised if it doesn’t.
