The Pittsburgh Steelers, many believe, remain in the market for a starting wide receiver, which is why the release of Zay Jones yesterday attracted some attention. Veteran releases following a draft are par for the course, however, and he won’t be the last “name” wide receiver. The question is, would adding Jones to the Steelers’ depth chart really improve the position much?
Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette takes the contrary stance. Asked yesterday about potentially adding Jones, he said, “I think they have enough Zay Jones types in Van Jefferson and Quez Watkins. Jones has never had a 1,000-yard season and his best career output is 823 yards. They need a legit No. 2”.
Watkins and Jefferson are two veteran wide receivers the Steelers signed on the cheap this offseason. They parted with two of their top three from last season, releasing Allen Robinson II and trading Diontae Johnson.
While the Steelers have George Pickens as their WR1, the combination of Calvin Austin III, Jefferson and Watkins is uninspiring. They added Roman Wilson in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft but may still need a starter. And it’s fair to question if Jones is that type of player.
A 2017 second-round pick, Zay Jones only has 3,028 career receiving yards in 104 games played. He has 287 receptions for a 10.6-yard average and 18 touchdowns. His best season was arguably in 2022, catching 82 passes for 823 yards with five touchdowns. All the way back in 2018, he caught 56 passes for 652 yards and seven touchdowns.
In every other season, however, he has fewer than 50 catches for fewer than three touchdowns. He only has one other season with at least 500 receiving yards, and yet Jones has only missed significant time just once in his career. That just so happened to be 2023, missing eight games due to a PCL injury.
Van Jefferson has one productive season out of four, catching 50 passes for 802 yards and six touchdowns in 2021. He missed six games the following season, however, and in 2023, he dealt with a trade in-season that limited his opportunities.
Quez Watkins, likewise, has one arguably notable season. Also in 2021, he caught 43 passes for 647 yards, though he scored just one touchdown. In four seasons, he has just six receiving touchdowns, including one in 2023 on 15 catches for 142 yards.
The Steelers need more in the wide receiver room, but does Zay Jones represent more, or more of the same? I’m inclined to side with Fittipaldo here. He has pedigree, and we all know how much the Steelers like that, but he doesn’t really move the needle. The Steelers need a wide receiver who can offer that.
