The Pittsburgh Steelers opened a sizeable hole at wide receiver when they traded Diontae Johnson that they have yet to fill. “Their need there is massive”, draft analyst Matt Williamson told Tim Benz recently on the Breakfast with Benz podcast. That states the obvious, but he lays into their current depth chart pretty good.
“I think they have a strong No. 2 that aspires to be a No. 1”, he said of George Pickens, for example. And to my mind, that’s hardly an unfair description. I think he’s established his talent level much more so than he has his actual role. The way that we conceive of the concept of a top receiver, Pickens hasn’t proven that yet for the Steelers.
Williamson also said that the Steelers have three wide receivers in Van Jefferson, Quez Watkins, and Calvin Austin III who are better suited for a No. 4 role. “When it’s all said and done, one of them will probably be on the outside looking in. I don’t know that all three of those guys make the team”.
The problem is, even assuming the Steelers draft a Day 1 starter, one of these other receivers has to play. Granted, the Steelers may not use as much 11 personnel under Arthur Smith, but they’ll use it numerous times every game.
Austin played 375 snaps for the Steelers last season, his first while healthy after they drafted him in 2022. He caught just 17 passes for 180 yards, of which 72 came on his lone receiving touchdown of the regular season. He did have one rushing touchdown and added a second receiving touchdown in the playoffs.
Both Jefferson and Watkins signed as free agents this offseason. Jefferson is a former second-round pick who contributed to the Los Angeles Rams’ 2021 Super Bowl team. The only problem is he hasn’t done much since then. He caught 20 passes last year, spending most of the season with Smith and the Atlanta Falcons.
With Pickens and Johnson, the Steelers had two strong starters with complementary skill sets. They can find that again with a draft pick, but Williamson is still surprised they haven’t yet made a move. “I thought, by now, that the other shoe would have dropped on the Johnson trade, and somebody would have been added that’s a legit, starting veteran wide receiver”, he said. “I’m a little shocked that hasn’t”.
Many rumors connect the Steelers to trade speculation for this or that wide receiver, particularly Brandon Aiyuk. We can’t completely dismiss all of these reports as unrealistic fabrications, but we probably shouldn’t bet on a draft-day trade.
While Pickens certainly has the talent to be a legitimate starter, he still has a lot to prove, and the rest of the Steelers’ wide receiver room is virtually anonymous. Some argue that matters less in a run-heavy offense under Arthur Smith, but that remains to be seen. The Steelers’ very obvious interest in this year’s draft class suggests they know they need help. But will they do more than just draft one Day-2 wide receiver?
