Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan has been busy this offseason. He’s added three quarterbacks, traded one, and addressed some issues on the defensive side of the ball. However, there is still plenty of work to be done at the wide receiver position. Despite adding Van Jefferson and Quez Watkins in free agency, the departure of Diontae Johnson via trade leaves a big hole opposite George Pickens.
There is still time to fix it, but for right now, it’s a bad situation. When Brad Spielberger of Pro Football Focus joined The Fan Morning Show on Tuesday, he discussed his thoughts on the wide receiver depth chart.
“Pickens is great, so that obviously helps,” Spielberger said. “But so you’re ahead of like the New England Patriots of the world. But it’s definitely bottom of the NFL, bottom 10 I guess we could say, maybe bottom five if I sat down and looked at every roster…. You don’t need to add a number one player at the position, which helps. But we talked, do they have a number two on the roster? No. You could probably argue they don’t have a number three on the roster. I like Quez Watkins as a slot, [but] there’s a reason he signed two weeks into free agency for a near-minimum contract. I actually like Calvin Austin [III], too. We’ve talked about him plenty, but he right now seems to be more of like a gadget, smaller role-type guy.”
As Spielberger said, Pickens is the top dog in Pittsburgh. He’s proven that with 115 catches for 1,941 yards and nine touchdowns in his first two seasons. And that’s with quarterbacks like Mitch Trubisky, Kenny Pickett, and Mason Rudolph throwing him the ball.
It’s just that the picture gets a lot less clear after that. Spielberger mentioned Watkins, whom the Steelers signed in free agency. He has four years of playing experience with the Philadelphia Eagles and has played 49 regular-season games. He has 98 catches on 147 targets for 1,249 yards and six touchdowns in that span. However, he never solidified himself as a reliable target in Philadelphia, which is why the Steelers were able to sign him for cheap.
Spielberger also mentioned Austin, who made his NFL debut in 2023. He played in all 17 games but only had 17 receptions for 180 yards and one touchdown. He also had 11 carries for 57 yards and another touchdown. It highlights his versatility but is part of why Spielberger referred to him as a gadget player. Austin has spoken about wanting to show up to camp and dominate, but the Steelers cannot depend on that happening to fix their issues at wide receiver.
One player Spielberger did not mention was free agent signee Van Jefferson. He comes in with four years of experience after the Los Angeles Rams selected him in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He does have some experience with offensive coordinator Arthur Smith after playing with the Atlanta Falcons for 12 games in 2023. In all, Jefferson has caught 113 passes for 1,600 yards and 10 touchdowns in his career. He hasn’t lived up to his second-round billing, which is probably why he wasn’t mentioned in the discussion.
The lack of a true starter opposite Pickens isn’t lost on Khan and the Steelers. The Steelers have met or will meet with wide receivers like Roman Wilson from Michigan, Malachi Corley from Western Kentucky, Ricky Pearsall from Florida, and Xavier Legette from South Carolina. So the team intends to pursue upgrades still, which is good news.
As for the rest of the bottom of the NFL, Spielberger took to Twitter/X to elaborate on where the Steelers fit in the NFL.
Not exactly the best company.
