Robert Woods might not be the Steelers’ most glamorous wide receiver, but that’s just another compliment for him. The veteran, signed as a free agent this offseason, wants to help bring a culture change into his room. And with just the right amount of grime, he is seeing that during their first work on the field of 2025.
“From top to bottom, everybody is kind of grimy and just wants to get in and do everything possible for this team and for this roster”, Woods said of the Steelers, via Pittsburgh’s DSEN. “Even just for our receiving room, I think you see guys who are wanting to fight for each other and play for each other. Guys are finishing down the field blocking. We’re gonna be physical in our room. We’re gonna be grimy, we’re gonna be fighting to the end of the whistle. Just playing with and without the football I think is the biggest thing in our room”.
While they have in recent years tried to incorporate veterans with a physical presence, Pittsburgh has lacked that finishing quality in the room. With Robert Woods, the Steelers wide receivers, he expects, will bring the heat.
Now that DK Metcalf is at the top of the depth chart, it’s hard not to see the group as more physical. While George Pickens could put a DB on his butt, he increasingly became selective with when he would engage. Woods is the most physical receiver the Steelers have, and the grimiest, so you can probably bet that Arthur Smith wants to get him on the field.
Roman Wilson and Calvin Austin III are not imposing presences, but both are willing blockers. The former, coached by Jim Harbaugh at Michigan, came into the league with the motto, “No block, no rock”. And it’s not like he didn’t put it on tape, even if he hasn’t done it in the NFL yet. With Robert Woods’ supervision, perhaps he and others in the Steelers’ wide receiver room will show a thing or two.
with Pittsburgh wanting to run the ball, the Steelers will need wide receivers like Woods who will embrace the grime. They do have some guys, and that’s why they re-signed Ben Skowronek on a two-year deal.
At least on paper, this could legitimately be the most physical wide receiver room the Steelers have had in quite some time. Whether that actually proves to be true when it counts, we’ll have to wait and see. For his part, Robert Woods says he believes a lot of defenders are fake tough guys. When they encounter a physical receiver who will go after him all game, they start approaching with more hesitance.
The Steelers have been trying to be a more physically imposing team in recent years, and wide receiver signings like Robert Woods reflect that. But a few years into the journey, we still haven’t seen the results. Will 2025 finally be the year that they grimy their way toward that goal?
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