As the son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, Colorado quarterback and 2025 NFL Draft first-round hopeful Shedeur Sanders admittedly didn’t pay much attention to quarterback-receiver combinations early in his life.
But on the doorstep of the NFL, Sanders — who appeared on “The Rush With Maxx Crosby” podcast Tuesday — already has a good grasp on who the top quarterback-wide receiver combinations are in the NFL.
In fact, Sanders believes that no matter who is the quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, they’ll be up there due to the DK Metcalf and George Pickens.
During the appearance on the show with Crosby, Sanders was asked to pick a Mount Rushmore of QB-WR combinations. He struggled to come up with past ones, highlighting only Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski, and Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams. But then he pulled out the likes of Chris Olave and Derek Carr in New Orleans.
Then, in a quick moment, Sanders also highlighted Metcalf and Pickens in Pittsburgh.
“Whoever gonna be the quarterback for DK Metcalf and George Pickens, whoever that is,” Sanders said when asked to pick a QB-WR combination for his final Mount Rushmore spot, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “I was going in four different directions. It was tough, because I like Olave, I like Malik [Nabers], and I like George Pickens and DK Metcalf.
“So whatever that means for whoever is listening.”
Sanders 100% knew what he was doing with that answer, listing receivers for three teams he has been connected to in the New York Giants, New Orleans Saints and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
It was a great troll job by Sanders, but it raises a greater point that the Steelers’ situation at receiver is a great landing spot for the next quarterback, whether that’s Sanders in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, Aaron Rodgers as a free agent — or both.
Having those two weapons on the outside will do wonders for the Steelers’ offense.
On paper, Metcalf and Pickens have a redundancy as big, physical receivers who win downfield in contested-catch situations. They also have tempers that run hot, too, though in different ways.
But what they do consistently is produce. Pickens is coming off a 59-catch season for 900 yards and three touchdowns, while Metcalf cracked 900 yards receiving for the sixth consecutive season to open his career, finishing with 992 yards on 66 receptions with five touchdowns.
Both can win down the field and create explosive plays in the process, which will help whomever is at quarterback for the Black and Gold in 2025 and beyond. That guy under center for the Steelers could be Sanders, too.
