Steelers State of the Union - the Wide Receivers Room
Currently the Pittsburgh Steelers have 11 wide receivers in the WR room. This is a wide receiving corp that looks vastly different than last year. The Steelers let go of several players including WRs JuJu Smith-Schuster, James Washington, and Ray-Ray McCloud.
At present here are the receivers the Steelers have on the team roster.
Diontae Johnson
Miles Boykin
Gunner Olszewski
Tyler Vaughns
Chase Claypool
Anthony Miller
Cody White
Rico Bussey
George Pickens
Calvin Austin III
Steven Sims
There is still a lot of offseason left before this list is solidified. When JuJu left the Steelers many fans felt we were dumping our best receiver and he would be impossible to replace however, if any team is known for developing great wide receivers it's the Steelers. Let’s not forget that JuJu was injured early in the 2021 season and that while the offense struggled it is hard to place the blame on the loss of JuJu. To be fair there were a number of factors including a weak offensive line, a new offensive coordinator, an aging arm on Ben, etc.
The Steelers head into 2022 in a great position with a whole complement of new, younger quarterbacks and a bolstered offensive line, and several new faces in the receivers group. This offense will benefit from the return of rushing phenom Najee Harris and will hopefully be able to be the dual-threat team fans expect.
The current wide receivers should inspire confidence. You don’t always need to have that one aggressively flashy WR to be successful. What is often most beneficial is to have wide receivers who are able to perform in a variety of situations - short, long, blocking, etc. This season we better cover those needs than we did in 2021. Let’s take a closer look at the key players.
Diontae Johnson
Diontae Johnson received his fair share of criticism for his drops in 2020. However, he deserves a lot of credit for not allowing the frustration to totally scramble his head and working hard during the offseason to vastly improve. In 2021, he displayed tremendous improvement and had his first 100 yard game, 1,000-yard season with 8 touchdowns. His athleticism was much improved and he has the potential to be WR1 in 2022.
Chase Claypool
Chase Claypool almost had the opposite two-year situation from Johnson. In 2020, Claypool joined the Steelers amid much fanfare. Pittsburgh likes its receivers' physical and that was how Claypool played in college at Notre Dame. Statistically, Claypool doesn’t look much different from one season to the next except for in touchdowns - he had 9 in 2020 and 2 in 2021. The reality is that all performance issues are statistically tangible and Claypool did not improve his sophomore season. He was expected to be a deep threat and that did not happen in 2021. He did not win those down field contests. Going into his 3rd season, Claypool needs to step up to the plate and deliver.
George Pickens
The Steelers maintained their status as “Wide Receiver U” by drafting George Pickens out of the University of Georgia in the second round. Pickens has great hands and strong athletic ability. He can contort his body into remarkable positions to win the battle for the ball in air. He has some areas to work on - he needs to add some body mass and upper body strength to be fully competitive in the pros. He has incredible tracking skills and can fake out opponents off the line of scrimmage. He was widely considered the most physically gifted WR will his draft class prior to his ACL injury.
There have also been concerns expressed over some hot-headed behavior that created character concerns. The reality is that he is a young man who hasn’t fully learned to control his passion. Elite college coaches like Kirby Smart and Nick Saban do not deal with constant aggressive or “prima donna” type behaviors from their players. They know they are young men who will make mistakes and they look to provide guidance and mentoring. If Pickens truly displayed consistent poor character he would not have lasted at Georgia. Pickens is passionate and physical when it comes to football - there is no better place for him than Pittsburgh. Mike Tomlin is the wide receiver whisperer having dealt with numerous egos in the past including AB and all of his antics and Claypool’s “growing pains”
Pickens is a team players who also displays a great deal of humility and gratitude for someone so young. He returned to play in the College Championship after his injury when he could have easily put his potential pro career first. In every interview with him he thanks his coaches and teammates for helping him find success and speaks of win, regularless of how much he contributed, as a team triumph. As long as Pickens heals fully he will be a remarkable addition to the offense. His physicality aligns nicely with the way the Steelers typically play. He has remarked how much he loves being a blocking WR and sees that as a key to success.
The rest of the gang contans a mixture of practice squad and other developing players. They help to provide depth and many have the potential to improve to a strong backup receiver. While it seems as though the Steelers have all the receivers they can handle, they would benefit from possibly picking up an available veteran receiver. The current group is full of talent and potential but they lack that strong veteran presence to help create a backbone for the group.
This pre-season is going to be an exciting one! It will fascinating to watch how this offense comes together and improves.