The Pittsburgh Steelers dropped their first game in Week 4 to the Indianapolis Colts. The offense started out sluggish before exploding for 21 points over the final 20 minutes of the game, but it was too little, too late as the Steelers lost, 27-24.
There was a lot of chatter entering the season about the lack of a No. 2 wide receiver and what it would mean for the offense. The Steelers tried to trade for San Francisco 49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk, but it fell through, and they were left with what they had on the roster.
Through four games, here are the combined stat lines for the receivers not named George Pickens.
Calvin Austin III: Seven receptions, 125 yards, and a touchdown
Van Jefferson: Five receptions, 36 yards
Scotty Miller: Two receptions, 31 yards
They are combining to average 3.5 catches, 48 yards, and a quarter of a touchdown per game. That would be poor for a No. 2 WR, let alone the entire receiving corps outside of Pickens.
“They need Roman Wilson badly,” Trevor Sikkema said via Pro Football Focus’ game review on YouTube.
Dalton Wasserman agreed.
“So badly, because you can feel it on too many plays. And I know some people, ‘Oh, there goes Justin Fields holding the ball.’ But he’s holding the ball because honestly, it’s just a lot of plays no one is open,” Wasserman said. “They need something else outside, somebody else that can win. Because you can just see way too often, you mentioned the run game, if they don’t have the run game going, well George Pickens isn’t the type of guy that’s gonna get 300 yards for you.
“They just don’t have a number two receiver, and it showed to me [Sunday]. There’s just too many plays where we didn’t get anybody separating.”
Najee Harris and Pat Freiermuth combined for eight catches for 111 yards against the Colts, but the lack of a threat on the outside still has repercussions on the offense. Darnell Washington had more receiving yards than all the wide receivers not named Pickens.
Is Wilson going to be that kind of guy who can win and make a meaningful difference? That includes a little bit of projection given that he has never played in a preseason game, let alone one in the regular season.
The Steelers drafted him in the third round for a reason and reportedly were going to draft him in the second round if Zach Frazier wasn’t available. During the first four training camp practices, Wilson was the second-best WR with seven catches on seven targets for 97 yards and a touchdown. He actually led the team in receiving yards before the pads came on.
Mike Tomlin told Bob Labriola before the Colts game that Wilson still has a lot of work ahead of him to be game-ready. But something has to give with the lack of help that Fields is getting from his receiving corps. Wilson said weeks ago that he is 100 percent and ready to hit the ground running. We can only hope that they start working him in sooner rather than later after failing to get a helmet yet again on game day.
