The Pittsburgh Steelers have had one of their best and most productive offseasons in recent memory. The Steelers are also in a fantastic position with the upcoming draft, having a first-round and two second-round picks. This efficiency means that what we are planning to do in that draft is less certain.
Photo Credit: Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation (Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO)
Steelers second year wide receiver George Pickens is expected to take a big leap in year two, but will need Matt Canada to devise a plan that maximizes his talent for that to happen.
There are several positions where the Steelers need added depth or even a potential upgrade. One of those positions is wide receiver.
It appears Pittsburgh will currently start Diontae Johnson and George Pickens. They also have Calvin Austin III returning to the field. Austin, like Pickens, was a rookie last season. Unfortunately for Austin and the team, he was hurt during preseason and we never got more than a tease of his abilities.
This has analysts and fans speculating that if one of the top receivers is there at 17, namely Jordan Addison or Zay Flowers, the Steelers might choose to go that route.
On his podcast, The Arthur Moats Experience, former Steelers linebacker, Arthur Moats and his co-host Deke discussed how adding a new receiver in the draft might change the balance of the offense.
What Happens If The Steelers Draft A Receiver At 17?
The Steelers worked hard in the second half of the season to build a "ground and pound" type offense and Moats feels that putting too much on young quarterback, Kenny Pickett, might not be the best idea.
"I do like it in the sense that you would have a guy in-house for when Diontae potentially leaves in a year from now because of the contract situation. I just wonder does that take away from what we were already building towards in the second half of the season, being a more physical group?"
Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation.com (Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO)
Chase Claypool hauls in a pass against the Tennessee Titans.
Deke said the new receiver could just be a gadget player and Moats reminded him that we had three receivers when we had Chase Claypool still and that wasn't the outcome.
"Before we moved on from Claypool, it seemed like we were just trying to figure out how can we feed three dudes consistently?"
Does adding that third receiver just bring an unnecessary bit of drama to the team? According to Moats, it may. Players are all competitors and fans were screaming for Pickens to get targets from day one.
"At 17, this dude gonna be competing with Diontae. If Jordan Addison came here, we would all be saying, 'That's Diontae's competition.' If Zay Flowers came here, we would all be saying, 'He's gonna be competing with Diontae.' We're not gonna be taking George Pickens off the field."
Deke points out that it used to be the new guy who came to the team and waited his turn, but Moats points out that times have changed.
"I don't know why or when it shifted and it's not just the Steelers, it's league-wide, you play these higher-end guys. You put them out there sooner than they probably need to be out there and justify it by saying, he can learn on the fly, I made the investment, we know the talent and maybe this expedites it. We'll go through some growing pains of him being bad and then when he starts to turn, we'll feel good about it."
These young receivers get a lot of national coverage and attention while they are in college. They expect to be able to jump right in and be productive. Moats also reminds Deke that fans have greater expectations for first-round picks vs other rounds.
"I think we're focusing more so on the player's element of it, but it's not just the player that drums up this type of stuff. It's also the media. You're gonna have fans every week talking about, 'This is the first-round draft pick? What are his numbers? Is this a wasted pick? Is he a bust? Did the Steelers miss on another guy?'"
"Then we're comparing his numbers to this other guy who got drafted and what he's been doing and the player feels that pressure as well. I just think there's a lot that goes into it when you take a dude in the first round. We've seen it with our first round picks, whether it is right or wrong. The pressure that comes with that in terms of expectation, in terms of how fast we think they should be producing to a certain level, regardless of if all the variables are equal."
Photo Credit: Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation (Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO)
Steelers wide receivers Diontae Johnson (left) and George Pickens (right) will be tasked to produce as the big dogs in the offense next season.
If the receiver fails, it won't be because he wasn't ready yet. Instead, according to Moats, it will be coordinator Matt Canada or Pickett that takes the blame.
"For our specific situation, we didn't see Kenny thrive in this offense when we were in a three/four wide receiver, pass-happy offense. We saw Kenny thrive in this offense when we wheeled it in a little bit, when we say we're gonna go bigger personnel groupings, run lots of play-action. We just don't want to hop right back into the thing that we struggled with to start out year two."
Johnson had a solid season in 2022 despite not having any touchdowns and Pickens seemed to evolve along with Pickett. But we did see a bit of frustration when the offense was struggling. Deke points out that Addison is supposedly a "drama-free" player.
"That's wide receivers though, you gotta coddle them, they got feelings."
"No one said Diontae Johnson had drama either when he came out of college. There is typically no drama when everything is good. It becomes drama when you sit here and you think, 'I know I'm nice, I know I could help us, I know I could help any team in this league, but I'm sitting.'"
How would you feel if the Steelers drafted one of those top receivers at 17? How about at 32? Do you think adding Addison or Flowers would change the dynamic of the room much? Click to comment below.
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