How deep the Pittsburgh Steelers’ wide receiver room is depends on how optimistic you are, but the team has clearly done its homework on this class, from Ladd McConkey to Luke McCaffrey. We can safely surmise that they’re going to come away from the second day of the draft with a wide receiver. But might they leave the draft with two wide receivers?
The Steelers have double-dipped at the position three or four times before under head coach Mike Tomlin. The number varies depending on how charitable you’re willing to be for Dri Archer in 2014. They did it most recently in 2022 with George Pickens and Calvin Austin III in rounds two and four, respectively.
And yet those two are all that remain from last year’s wide receiver room, so they need a refresher. The Steelers traded Diontae Johnson and released Allen Robinson II, while Miles Boykin left in free agency. So why not a late-round flyer on Luke McCaffrey?
“The son of Ed McCaffrey and brother of Christian McCaffrey, Luke is a big, explosive X-receiver with some pretty great athleticism,” The Athletic draft analyst Nick Baumgardner said of McCaffrey, offering him as a late-round option for the Steelers.
“He ran a 6.70 3-cone with a 4.02 short shuttle, showing great agility to go along with a 4.46 40,” he added. “The McCaffreys are literally one of the most athletic families in this country. Hard to go wrong with that blood.”
And you know how much the Steelers enjoy bloodlines. They drafted the son of a former player just last year in Joey Porter Jr. In the same class, they drafted the younger brother, Nick Herbig, of a lineman already on the roster, Nate. Then there’s Connor Heyward, T.J. and Derek Watt, Terrell Edmunds…the list goes on.
But why not take a stab at a player like McCaffrey? He caught 68 passes last year for 963 yards and 12 touchdowns. No, not every sibling is as high-performing as the next (sorry, Trey Edmunds), but it’s all about risk versus reward.
The Steelers added veterans Van Jefferson and Quez Watkins in free agency, but they don’t fill out the depth chart. One or both of them may not even make the roster, and if they do, it’s purely for a lack of alternatives.
I’m all in favor of Pittsburgh drafting two wide receivers this year. The late-round flyer doesn’t always work out (Justin Brown), but sometimes it does (Antonio Brown). And before anybody says something, no, Luke McCaffrey is not the next Antonio Brown. But he could be a good fit in Arthur Smith’s offense.
