Preseason games are over, and teams are in the process of trimming down their rosters to 53 players. With that in mind, one position many think the Steelers might add to is WR. One Steelers insider has changed his stance on that.
“I don’t think so,” The Pat McAfee Show’s Mark Kaboly said Monday on 93.7 The Fan. “I mean, everything I’ve been told is, they’re happy with what they have.”
The position doesn’t have much depth behind DK Metcalf. Roman Wilson took a nice step forward this preseason, but he’s still yet to catch a pass in a regular-season game and might have some rookie-like hurdles to start the year. Further complicating things is Calvin Austin III’s lingering oblique injury. He should be fine for the start of the regular season but did miss a lot of valuable time over the last few weeks.
When the Steelers signed Robert Woods in late April, many though he might be that solution. However, his chances of making the roster seem iffy at best. He got plenty of playing time during the final preseason game on Thursday. That’s not a good sign for a player his age, especially when many other backups had already exited the game.
In fact, less than a week ago, Kaboly argued that the Steelers could try to add another WR like him, if Woods gets cut. And if it were up to him, he’d make that addition.
“I’m sure they’re talking out of both sides of their mouth right now,” Kaboly said. “But you need to have something else, like I said, in the bag. Unless you really think Robert Woods deserves to stick around more than he has.”
Kaboly did recently say that he expected Pittsburgh to add a receiver in a 10-12 day window. He said that 12 days ago, so we’re at the end of that window now. He still believes the team should add a wide receiver, but he admits that everything he’s hearing implies they won’t.
Metcalf, Austin and Wilson are obvious roster locks. Behind them, Scotty Miller and Ben Skowronek have made strong cases to make the roster as well. The sixth spot — if the Steelers roster more than five wide receivers — is where things get interesting. Woods could take it, but he hasn’t been as impressive as many hoped he’d be. Unless a really talented option hits the market, it seems like the Steelers may stick with what they already have at WR.
