Throughout the offseason arguably the biggest concern with the Pittsburgh Steelers is who their WR2 is going to be. Since trading WR Diontae Johnson, Pittsburgh has not been able to make a big addition at the wide receiver position to try and replace his production. Instead, the Steelers brought in array of pedestrian receivers like Van Jefferson, Scotty Miller, and Quez Watkins. They also drafted Roman Wilson out of Michigan, hoping one of them steps up and becomes the WR2 behind George Pickens.
So far, the person who has stepped up is Jefferson. Can he keep up his strong training camp and preseason? That is something we will have to wait and see, but former Steelers defensive lineman Chris Hoke has confidence in him.
“I really believe Van Jefferson can be a decent No. 2 given the opportunities, but he hasn’t proven to be able to do that,” said Hoke on the KDKA Nightly Sports Call Saturday after the Steelers’ final preseason game. “I think he’s a guy they want to see step up and fill that No. 2 role and I believe he can. That’s my concern so it would be nice to have a guy that you really know can take pressure off George Pickens and allow Pickens to do what he does because it’s going to be tough getting the ball to him if they don’t.”
Although just preseason, Jefferson caught six passes on eight targets for 57 yards. Obviously not incredible numbers, but when watching him he looked fine. Jefferson never did anything to make your jaw drop, but he definitely looked capable.
The upside with Jefferson is that he had a good 2021 season, which if replicated would be happily accepted in Pittsburgh. In 2021 with the Los Angeles Rams, Van Jefferson put up his career best numbers, catching 50 passes for 802 yards and six touchdowns. In an Arthur Smith offense, that is perfectly fine for a WR2.
As Hoke said, the biggest thing Jefferson has to do is open up the field for the dynamic Pickens. He can catch almost everything thrown his way and has developed his yards after catch “YAC’ game. But in Pickens’ young career he has sometimes struggled with being taken out of the game. The fear is that without a capable WR2 teams will put their full attention on Pickens and take him out of games.
“They’re going to bracket George Pickens, as guy underneath, over top, if [the Steelers] don’t have a No. 2 option to take some relief off him,” Hoke said. “You’re going to have [Pat] Freiermuth, you’re going to have some tight ends, but they need a [No] 2 they can really depend on.”
Pittsburgh will be a run-first football team, but when you have a playmaker like Pickens you have to get him the football. Normally, when the ball gets to Pickens, good things happen. If the Steelers can’t get Pickens the ball on at least a somewhat consistent basis, the team will likely struggle as relying on the running game and Jefferson, Miller, Watkins, or Wilson won’t be good enough in the modern NFL.
If the Steelers don’t make a splash trade for San Francisco 49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk, it will be crucial for Jefferson to step up and have his best season since 2021. If not, it will be much harder for Pittsburgh’s offense to take a step forward from last year.
