The Pittsburgh Steelers made a big splash early in the legal tampering window Monday afternoon, swinging a trade with the Indianapolis Colts to acquire veteran wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. That move answered the significant WR2 issue the Steelers had behind DK Metcalf.
On paper, it makes some sense as Pittman isn’t much of a downfield threat like Metcalf. What Pittman is, though, is a possession receiver, one who wins off the line of scrimmage quickly and gives his quarterback a quick outlet.
That could pair nicely with 42-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers, should he decide to re-sign with the Steelers for a second season.
Yahoo! Sports’ Nate Tice doesn’t quite understand the move though, especially with how the Steelers played under Rodgers last season.
“I wish I could tell you [what they’re doing]. Trying to sell season tickets? That’s kind of been my thought, because they hired Mike McCarthy and just automatically going like, ‘Yeah, we’re the only Aaron Rodgers team and essentially would love to have him back.’ And Rodgers last year, the thing that was, I would say frustrating, when watching him is that the offense wasn’t awful,” Tice said on the Barstool’s Pardon My Take podcast that published Wednesday. “But didn’t push the ball at all. Like he was throwing short of the sticks at one of the highest rates on record…he was checking everything down, throwing underneath, or throwing go balls. And that’s not gonna lead to a lot of sustained success.
“So if you’re gonna have a quarterback do that, you need guys that can break tackles.”
Based on charting here at Steelers Depot last season, wide receivers forced just 18 missed tackles. Metcalf had 12 of those forced missed tackles charted. Calvin Austin III had just three on offense, while Adam Thielen had two and Scotty Miller had one.
The Steelers need someone who can catch short and run long, breaking tackles along the way as that possession receiver. That’s largely where Tice has issue with the Pittman trade.
“Pittman I like, but he’s not a tackle breaker, right? He is a back-shoulder guy,” Tice said. “So, I understand the trade. They needed a wide receiver two. And I’m understanding why they maybe went for a guy that was on the market like Pittman ’cause of the [Alec] Pierce stuff with the Colts and everything, but I thought they need a little more juice because they need guys that can take stuff that’s a 2-yard gain and take it 20.
That’s not exactly Pittman’s game. He had just seven forced missed tackles last season, according to Pro Football Focus, and had his lowest yards after catch average since 2022.
Though he’s a dependable power slot guy who can win quickly off the line and make tough catches in traffic, he’s not going to catch a short pass, make a defender miss and create an explosive play.
As Matthew Marczi outlined, the Steelers still need that speed element at receiver, especially if Rodgers returns. The Steelers simply cannot rely on dinking and dunking again next season and not utilizing the middle of the field. Not with McCarthy calling the offense now.
If that ends up being the case, it will be more of the same for the Steelers. Pittman is a nice player to add, but there has to be more to the offense moving forward, rather than a bunch of back-shoulder Rodgers throws in 1-on-1 situations up the sideline and quick strikes off the line hoping receivers can create magic.
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