Steelers Could Take Aggressive Approach To Fixing Position Group In 2026

The Pittsburgh Steelers have officially entered the offseason, and this year seems to signal a lot of change coming within the organization. Not only did the Steelers hire a new head coach in Mike McCarthy, but as his staff continues to take shape, the roster will undoubtedly get a lot more looks than it ever did in the past. Contracts are expiring, some players will likely end up leaving the team for other opportunities, and others may end up staying simply to play for McCarthy. The offseason list is extensive, with the franchise entering a new era, and this naturally leads to lots of speculation about the approach the team will take.

A lot of this speculation has been centered around the Steelers' wide receiver room. Aside from the top option in the room, that being wide receiver DK Metcalf, the Steelers had no other reliable option on offense to get the ball to. This led to teams consistently taking Metcalf away, causing the offense to stall out. With McCarthy's area of expertise being on the offensive side of the ball, speculation has arisen that the team will be taking a big swing to make the receiver room better heading into next season.

NFL analyst Aaron Schatz of ESPN recently contributed to an article centered around how each team could improve during the offseason, and in his contribution for the Steelers, had something interesting to predict that should get Steelers fans excited, should the team take this advice.

"The Steelers will use multiple draft picks on promising young wide receivers," Schatz wrote. "Calvin Austin III is a free agent, as are older veterans such as Adam Thielen, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Scotty Miller. They need more here."

Not only does Schatz make an excellent point about the status of the veterans on the roster, but specifically mentioning wide receiver Calvin Austin III as a free agent reminds everyone that the Steelers may be able to move on from him if they feel as if the potential is not there. Austin finished the season with 372 yards, while only starting seven games throughout the season. Injuries plagued Austin's 2025 campaign as well, leaving many to wonder if his time with the Steelers is over.

The Steelers will have plenty of options at pick #21 in the 2026 NFL Draft, so Schatz's prediction isn't something that seems terribly farfetched for the team to do. Using multiple top draft picks on wide receivers could indicate that the team has decided to completely retool the entire wide receiver room behind Metcalf, in an attempt to get the future Steelers quarterback as much help as possible, whoever that might be. 

All in all, the Steelers receiving room was a disaster in the 2025 season. Metcalf finished with 850 yards and six touchdowns, and made just as much of an impact off the field as he did on the field. It leaves some to wonder if the Steelers' options in the draft may include a wide receiver that could essentially demote Metcalf to the second option, which would be a great situation should the potential rookie show enough promise to be the franchise's next superstar receiver.

With all of the aging veterans making up the receiver room behind both Metcalf and Austin, it's very likely that most, if not all of them, have played their final snaps in the NFL. The next approach for the Steelers on offense seems fairly straightforward.

Steelers Should Completely Start Over On Offense

With the uncertainty behind most of the Steelers' offense, especially at quarterback, a complete reset on offense should definitely be in the cards. Once the Steelers can find a better group of players behind Metcalf at wide receiver, the offense will be multi-dimensional for once, giving the team more of an ability to win games with a powerful offensive attack.

What did you think about Schatz's bold prediction for the Steelers on offense? Let us know in the comments below.

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