The Pittsburgh Steelers worked quickly last offseason to make DK Metcalf their first big addition. A few months later, they paired him with Aaron Rodgers in hopes the two could form a connection strong enough to carry the offense.
Neither were bad, but for many reasons, that connection wasn’t enough to lift the unit on its own. Heading into 2026, former Steelers quarterback Charlie Batch is expecting a better result.
“Yeah, it’s gonna be improved big time,” Batch said of the chemistry between Metcalf and Rodgers on his Snap Count podcast. “When you look at just where both were at, of course Aaron’s been 18 years in this system… Now you bring it back here. So they can go back and look at that film and say, ‘How can you now use his strength and weaknesses? So I think that’s gonna be something they continue to build on… You expect that jump to go from year one to year two.”
Metcalf and Rodgers did have some nice moments together. Metcalf actually scored in four of the first five games. He an especially strong showing in Dublin when he took a slant route 80 yards to the house.
Later in the season, their chemistry was on full display during a close win over Baltimore in which Rodgers hit DK Metcalf over the top multiple times.
However, the season might have been a little disappointing from Metcalf’s point of view. His 850 receiving yards were the lowest single-season total of his career, and his 59 receptions nearly were, as well.
There were a couple of factors. One is the hurried nature of Rodgers in the pocket. He took plenty of sacks over the first two weeks of the season.
From then on, the goal to get the ball out as quick as possible was clear. In many situations, unless Metcalf was winning off the line, it was going to be hard to get the ball to him.
Even when he was winning off the line, he often faced double teams or brackets. With nobody really stepping up elsewhere at the position, defenses were allowed to pay much more attention to Metcalf.
Fortunately, that’s an issue the Steelers worked to address. Michael Pittman Jr. will force defenses to take some of that pressure away, and a versatile chess piece in Germie Bernard should open things up as well.
DK Metcalf does need to be a little better. The Steelers would have hoped formore production after signing him to the large contract. And he did have some tough drops throughout the year, including one in the playoff loss.
But he was still explosive when he got the chance. More talent at his position and another year with Rodgers should help him stand out more in 2026.
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