With a talented and well-rounded roster, there aren't many injuries the Steelers could sustain that would derail their 2024 season. Pittsburgh already lost three offensive linemen for the season (Troy Fautanu, James Daniels, and Nate Herbig) and has been without Alex Highsmith for half the season.
We've witnessed first-hand how catastrophic a major to T.J. Watt is to this football team, and losing Russell Wilson at this point would be disastrous. Unfortunately, one of the team's most important players recently suffered an injury that will keep him sidelined for a few weeks.
George Pickens is dealing with a Grade 2 hamstring strain that caused him to miss Pittsburgh's Week 14 game against the Browns and will keep him out of at least the Eagles game in Week 15 (possibly longer).
In his absence, fans expected Mike Williams to step up to the plate. The Steelers landed Williams just before the NFL trade deadline, but the veteran wide receiver hasn't offered the productivity fans were hoping for.
In five games with the Steelers, Williams has caught just four passes on five targets for 68 yards. This included a pivotal game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter against the Washington Commanders. I've gone on record saying Williams' touchdown was already worth the cost of the trade (which ended up being a fifth-round pick in 2025).
Unfortunately, our fears about Williams have been confirmed.
Let's give credit where credit is due: Williams has already made one game-altering play for the Steelers and he was fine in Pickens' absence in Week 14 — catching three passes on four targets for 36 yards. However, Williams was still out-produced by reserve WR Scotty Miller in this contest.
At a disgraceful clip of 0.8 catches and 13.6 yards per game with the Steelers, Williams has shown that there isn't much gas left in the tank. When he does see the field, he's often blanketed by faster cornerbacks and doesn't often see the football come in his direction.
Wilson has a perfect passer rating when throwing to Williams, but this stat is overblown because of the microscopic sample size and the fact that Williams is rarely open.
One of the arguments against Pittsburgh's trade for Williams was the fact that he was coming off a season-ending knee injury, which seems to have zapped what little explosion he had left at this stage of his NFL career. This is probably why he was running as the third receiver in New York before the Jets traded for Davante Adams.
Maybe Williams will surprise us and turn things on all of a sudden in his sixth game with the team, but I wouldn't count on it. We've seen enough of the 30-year-old wide receiver to know that our suspicions have been confirmed: there's not much left to offer.