The Pittsburgh Steelers have targeted WR Mike Williams one time in two games since acquiring him for a fifth-round pick. That one target was momentous, granted, providing the game-winning score over a 7-2 team. But they obviously didn’t trade for him just to serve as a decoy, so when will the targets funnel his way?
“I do think it’s a good sign that they trusted him to play 25 snaps [last Sunday]. Mike [Tomlin] talked about this the other day: when George [Pickens] and Mike [Williams] were out there at the same time, that’s the reason [Darnell] Washington was open over the middle of the field on those few occasions”, Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said on 93.7 The Fan.
“When you’re playing two deep safeties and you’re worrying about two guys going deep down the field, that is gonna open it up for some other guys. Maybe the Browns will take a different approach. [Browns DC] Jim Schwartz is a guy who’s always been a risk taker, so maybe he will leave some guys open on the outside. Maybe this is a week for Williams to get more involved. But I do think, down the stretch, yeah, he’s certainly gonna be a bigger part of this offense”.
The Browns have played the second-most man coverage in Cover 1 looks this season at 34 percent, behind only the Detroit Lions. They employ man coverage 37 percent of the time overall, compared to 29 percent for the Ravens. In zone, the Brown mostly run out of a Cover 3 look, running Cover 2 about half as frequently (and half as frequently as they run out of Cover 1 man). The Browns also bring the sixth-most blitzes, far more than the Ravens. So there is some credence to the idea that the Steelers’ outside receivers, including Mike Williams, might see more opportunities.
While Jim Schwartz is known as an aggressive coordinator, that hasn’t translated into sustained success this season. The Browns had one of the better and most efficient defenses in the league in 2023. But that hasn’t carried over at all into this season. They generate pressure, but they also miss tackles and have bottom-10 scoring and red-zone defenses.
The Steelers brought in Mike Williams to do what he does best: go deep and make contested catches. There is still plenty of time for them to get him more involved, and he did play a healthy chunk of snaps last Sunday.
The question is the quality of snaps. Last time out, Russell Wilson prioritized feeding George Pickens, to general success. Facing frequent pressure, he didn’t have time for many long-developing routes, which hindered Mike Williams.
If the Steelers want to get Williams more targets, they need to keep Wilson cleaner than they did last time out. But he also doesn’t necessarily need a high volume of opportunities. He just needs a few quality opportunities per game to make a difference. Whether we see that in Cleveland or the week after, we’ll have to find out.
