If you go unit by unit for the Pittsburgh Steelers, nearly every group on both sides of the ball are pretty competitive in comparison to the rest of the teams in the league. But there is one very obvious sore spot on the roster with the receiving corps. That includes the wide receivers and the tight ends, but the WR group is what drags the unit down. At a time when there has never been more talented wide receivers in the league, the Steelers have one solid wide receiver, one solid tight end, and a bunch of question marks after them.
Ryan McCrystal of Sharp Football Analysis has been going position group by position group and ranking the units across the NFL. He had the Steelers tied at No. 29 as the third-worst receiving corps in the NFL. That website leans heavily into advanced analytics, and several of those metrics fed into an aggregate “score.” This system was scaled from 0 to 100, and the Steelers had a score of just 10. The San Francisco 49ers, for comparison, had a score of 99.
“George Pickens has the talent to elevate the Steelers’ pass catchers if he fully lives up to his potential, but he needs to become more consistent,” McCrystal wrote. “Pickens ranked 25th out of 46 qualified wide receivers in catch rate on catchable targets of 10 or more yards downfield last year.”
If Pickens can take the next step and become a Pro Bowl or All-Pro talent, he can single-handedly elevate this group beyond their current placement on the list. But will the Steelers and OC Arthur Smith have the tools to scheme him open with limited options around him?
TE Pat Freiermuth is primed to have the best season of his career in a TE-friendly offensive system. He had the most receptions and yards of his career in 2022 with 63 receptions for 732 yards. He had far and away the most touchdowns of his career as a rookie with 7 score. If he can match or exceed all of those numbers in 2024, that will help alleviate the WR2 issue that we have all been talking about this offseason.
As for who will be the top receiver other than Pickens, your guess is as good as mine as we sit here before the start of training camp. Calvin Austin III is entering his third year with the best (and possibly only) chance to become a starting wide receiver in the NFL. Roman Wilson has a lot of promising traits, but he’s a rookie and may need time to adjust.
Van Jefferson and Scotty Miller have each had WR2-type production in the past, but Miller is four years removed and Jefferson is three years removed from those performances. Both were with Arthur Smith and the Atlanta Falcons in 2023, and they combined for 23 receptions for 262 yards and 2 touchdowns in 29 combined games played.
There have been positive reports about each of those receivers that will be competing for the No. 2 role, but the rubber will meet the road when the pads come on at training camp just days from now.
QB Russell Wilson should be the best passer that the Steelers have had since at least Ben Roethlisberger’s final season, and he is probably a little better than late-career Roethlisberger. That alone should elevate the group, but there are still plenty of questions with the Steelers’ receiving corps that need answered over the next month and a half of camp and preseason football.
