If you’re waiting for the Steelers to address the wide receiver position, you might want to pull up a chair. According to one beat writer, they might not even bolster the position at all. Amid reports that they are high on both Roman Wilson and Calvin Austin III, could we be projecting our own insecurities onto the organization yet again?
Of course, just because the Steelers may be confident in their wide receiver room doesn’t mean they should be. And just because they claim they’re confident in them doesn’t mean they are. Despite expressing repeated comfort in last year’s group, they still pursued Brandon Aiyuk for months.
“I’m not convinced they will add another,” Brian Batko wrote during a recent chat about the Steelers. “As much as I’m skeptical that Robert Woods can still be an NFL-caliber starter, they must have had something in mind when they signed someone of his experience level and career. To me, it feels like he’s insurance for Calvin Austin III and Roman Wilson, which is a leap of faith projecting them to be WRs 2 and 3 in some order, but here we are.”
Of course, the Steelers’ trading George Pickens sparked this obsession with their wide receiver room. But even before then, many thought that they needed to draft a wide receiver, which they did not. Now, at least in the view of that group, they are two behind where they should be.
Numerically, the Steelers do have plenty of wide receivers—enough for the 53-man roster. While they traded Pickens, they already traded for DK Metcalf. Austin, Wilson, and veteran Robert Woods will make up much of their core behind him. They also have Ben Skowronek and Scotty Miller, who were with the team a year ago.
That group might not strike fear in the hearts of opposing defensive coordinators, but they might not need to if they structure their offense around the run game and their tight ends. DK Metcalf is a sufficient top target, and Pat Freiermuth can handle a greater receiving role. If the rest of the Steelers’ wide receiver room can just fill in, perhaps they view that as sufficient.
Or perhaps they really believe that another year of growth for Calvin Austin and Roman Wilson will make a significant difference, in addition to simply granting them the opportunity to play a larger role. Historically speaking, Steelers OC Arthur Smith doesn’t necessarily build his offenses around a deep wide receiver room.
This is just the personal view of one beat writer, though. For all we know, the Steelers are actively pursuing wide receiver options as we speak. They reached out to the Saints about Chris Olave, but that was apparently earlier in the offseason. GM Omar Khan will always say that they keep their options open, for whatever that’s worth.
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