Pittsburgh Steelers Exit Meeting: WR Van Jefferson
Experience: 5 Years (1 with Steelers)
If you don’t like seeing Van Jefferson included with the starters in this Steelers exit meeting series, you’re not alone. But for all intents and purposes, the Steelers started Jefferson all season. Although George Pickens missed three games, Jefferson played nearly as many snaps as him. And he played more snaps than any other wide receiver.
Signed to a one-year, Veteran Salary Benefit contract in the offseason, Van Jefferson felt like a placeholder. He was an experienced veteran of high pedigree who had worked with new OC Arthur Smith. In that respect, he checked a lot of boxes, but he wasn’t a guy who should have played 700-plus snaps.
And to be fair to the Steelers, that’s not what they envisioned. They spent months trying to trade for another starting wide receiver, only to be rebuffed multiple times. And no, Mike Williams wasn’t the answer to that particular problem. Not to mention, they basically lost out on Roman Wilson’s rookie season.
Still, it would be misleading to suggest that the Steelers played Van Jefferson by default. They played him because they liked him, even if he didn’t do much. Across 17 games, he caught 24 passes on 40 targets for 276 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught two passes for 37 yards and a touchdown in the Steelers’ Wild Card loss to the Ravens.
But the Steelers didn’t play him strictly for his receiving ability. They also played him because of his willingness and ability to do the dirty work—for all the good that did. In some contexts, like in run-heavy personnel, Van Jefferson played over George Pickens, for example.
I doubt he would have played as much, of course, if the Steelers would have had better options. Calvin Austin III got his share of snaps, but Scotty Miller? I don’t think it’s a surprise that an offense that heavily featured Van Jefferson finished 23rd in yards.
But that’s more of a Steelers problem than a Van Jefferson problem. No team should be playing a wide receiver over 700 snaps after signing him to a league-minimum contract. Starting wide receivers on good teams don’t make league-minimum salaries.
If the Steelers want to re-sign Jefferson, that’s all well and good. All they have to do is make sure they’re not again in a position in which he plays so much. But that means having somebody better, and last year, they somehow did not.
The Pittsburgh Steelers find themselves at home, the inevitable result of another early playoff exit. This is a repeated pattern for the organization, with no clear end in sight. As the Steelers conduct their own exit meetings, we will go down the roster conducting our own. Who should stay, and who should go, and how? Who should expect a bigger role next season, and who might deserve a new contract? We’ll explore those questions and more in these articles, part of an annual series.
