His first year with the Pittsburgh Steelers could be classified as a mild disappointment due to his overall production dipping, the two-game suspension to end the regular season, and then a killer drop early in the playoff loss to the Houston Texans that ultimately changed the game.
But DK Metcalf’s future in the Steel City still looks rather bright.
At least, that’s how NFL Network analyst and podcast host Gregg Rosenthal sees things for the big, physical receiver.
In the latest episode of NFL Daily, Rosenthal ranked Metcalf inside the NFL’s top 20 receivers. Metcalf landed at No. 18, behind Denver’s Jaylen Waddle, but ahead of Tampa Bay’s Emeka Egbuka and Jacksonville’s Brian Thomas Jr.
“At a certain point in the DK Metcalf development, we probably overrated his development. He’s started to develop more than he was as a prospect. But what he does is dunking on people, as you would say, and if he’s not a totally complete guy, that’s fine. He was stuck with Aaron Rodgers,” Rosenthal said, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “You want him as a deep threat and it doesn’t work as well, but that’s not his fault. And if you actually look at what the Steelers numbers last year, I know on/off splits can be a little noisy, but when he wasn’t on the field, they were just worse than ever. He [was] missed.
“So his gravity is really important in this ranking. Your boy Arthur Smith really didn’t help him out. And so I feel good [about him]. He’s not one of the — I think people who are hoping maybe he would become a top five to 10 receiver. And he’s not that guy. It doesn’t matter. He’s extremely valuable for what he does.”
When the Steelers traded for Metcalf last offseason, the expectation was that he would become the No. 1 receiver the franchise had lacked since the days of Antonio Brown.
At times, Metcalf showed the ability to be that guy. But too often last season he was quiet and easily schemed out of the offense due to a lack of help around him at receiver. The deep ball simply wasn’t there with Rodgers, and the Steelers put a great emphasis on Metcalf being a catch-short, run-long weapon.
Though Metcalf made some key plays and had some huge games, like he did in Dublin in the win over the Vikings and on the road against the Baltimore Ravens in a big win, the return in Year 1 wasn’t up to what the Steelers invested in him.
Some of that can be attributed to the offensive scheme under former coordinator Arthur Smith, as well as the lack of options around him. That won’t be the case this year with Mike McCarthy calling the plays and Michael Pittman Jr. and rookie Germie Bernard in the mix at receiver.
Metcalf should be able to get back to his usual production in 2026. He is still a very good receiver, just maybe not a top-10 weapon, and that’s perfectly fine. Defenses still fear him.
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