Steelers' Receiver Makeover Still Hides An Alarming 17-Game Problem

The Pittsburgh Steelers have finally built a receiver room that looks good from the top down, which is exactly why the bottom now matters more. DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman Jr. give the offense two proven answers, while Germie Bernard spent August making the third spot look increasingly less theoretical. A depth chart can feel comfortable in September right up until one starter disappears from it for a month.

During a recent episode of The Drive on Steelers Nation Radio, Matt Williamson and Wes Uhler were asked about the areas of Pittsburgh's roster that still make them uneasy. Wide receiver depth produced an immediate response, even though Williamson remains bullish on Bernard and the progress the rookie made throughout the summer.

“Depth at wide receiver? Worried.” “Concerned.” “We’re talking just the depth. That means outside of the top two guys… I really believe in Bernard, but he’s still a rookie. It’s a 17-game season… And God forbid, what if you lose one of those top two guys for more than just a week?” Williamson and Uhler said. 

This is not the same receiver problem Pittsburgh carried into last season, when Metcalf often felt like the only established threat defenses truly had to account for. The Steelers attacked that issue aggressively. They acquired Pittman in March, traded up to select Bernard 47th overall in April and spent the summer finding different ways to move their younger receivers around Mike McCarthy's offense.

At full strength, the result looks considerably healthier. Metcalf has three 1,000-yard seasons on his résumé and remains capable of changing coverage simply by lining up outside. Pittman has two 1,000-yard campaigns of his own and caught 80 passes for 784 yards with a career-high seven touchdowns in 2025. Bernard then used his first NFL summer to make a convincing argument that Pittsburgh's top three can be more than a preseason projection.

The issue Williamson and Uhler are raising starts when that order gets disturbed.

Bernard's rise has been one of the better developments of camp. The second-round pick showed the physicality, inside-outside flexibility and yards-after-catch ability Pittsburgh wanted when it moved up for him. His strong August also appeared to create separation from Roman Wilson in the competition underneath Metcalf and Pittman. That is excellent news for a rookie. It does not magically give him three years of NFL experience before Week 1.

If either Metcalf or Pittman misses extended time, Bernard no longer gets to settle naturally into life as a third option. He becomes one of the top two receivers immediately, with a larger route workload, more defensive attention and fewer opportunities to disappear from the game plan while learning. The player behind him also moves up a chair. That is where the comfort level drops.

Pittsburgh kept six true receivers on its initial 53-man roster: Metcalf, Pittman, Bernard, Wilson, Ben Skowronek and Kaden Wetjen. Wilson has flashed during McCarthy's first offseason but still has not established himself as a consistent regular-season offensive weapon after two quiet NFL seasons. Skowronek has carved out value through toughness and special teams, but asking him to replace starter-level receiving production would be a different assignment. Wetjen is another rookie whose most obvious immediate value comes from explosiveness and the return game.

None of those descriptions mean Pittsburgh has bad players behind Bernard. They explain why the word “depth” matters so much in the original concern. The fourth receiver on a depth chart is easy to ignore when everybody is healthy. He becomes much more interesting when an ankle injury suddenly asks him to run 40 routes against an AFC North opponent.

The Steelers also have a quarterback situation that makes reliable receiving depth more valuable, not less. Aaron Rodgers is entering another season in an offense that will depend heavily on timing, spacing and receivers being exactly where the concept expects them to be. Losing an established target does not just subtract catches from the box score. It can force younger players into different alignments and responsibilities while the offense is trying to maintain the same rhythm.

Pittsburgh does not need Bernard to be treated like a problem. Williamson specifically made clear that he believes in the rookie. The concern is almost the opposite: Bernard may already be important enough that the Steelers cannot pretend his emergence solved every issue behind the veteran starters.

Steelers Cannot Make Bernard Their Entire Insurance Plan

There is a perfectly reasonable outcome where this concern never becomes a major storyline. Metcalf and Pittman stay healthy, Bernard develops comfortably as the third option, and one of Wilson, Skowronek or Wetjen gives McCarthy enough useful snaps to make the rest of the pecking order mostly irrelevant. Seventeen games rarely cooperate that neatly.

The strongest receiver rooms are not merely impressive when everyone is available. They can absorb somebody missing two or three weeks without rewriting half the passing game. Pittsburgh has upgraded the talent at the top enough that the next question is no longer whether it has legitimate starting receivers. It does.

Now the Steelers have to find out whether the rest of the room can survive being promoted without warning. Bernard may eventually make Williamson's faith look conservative. For now, he is still a rookie sitting between two proven veterans and a collection of players with much more to prove. That is a comfortable arrangement when everyone answers roll call.

Williamson and Uhler are worried about the Sunday when somebody does not.

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