Mike Tomlin put his pass catchers on blast Tuesday. You’ve probably noticed they are dropping passes at a rate that would make Donte Moncrief blush.
“They can catch the ball,” Tomlin said, “or they can get replaced by those that will catch it.”
The Steelers’ main receivers have been brilliant at times, baffling at others. Their roles have been clear at times, cloudy at others.
Two things seem obvious with the biggest games ahead:
-- The Steelers cannot run the ball at all or throw it with much effectiveness of late. So unless they’ve figured out a way to roll it down the field in Buffalo, they’d better get one or both of those things figured out.
-- No matter what, they are going to pass a lot, which means their receivers cannot be average or even just good. Their talent suggests they should be something more than that.
Tomlin’s job is to prod them in that direction, and to adjust their roles accordingly.
I’m here to help ...
-- Chase Claypool: Why was he the odd man out against Washington? Facing a team that copied Baltimore by daring Ben Roethlisberger to throw deep, it made no sense that he played his fewest snaps since Week 2. He’s the deep guy.
If Claypool hit the proverbial rookie wall, I missed it. He had three total touchdowns against Cincinnati and Jacksonville. He regularly draws interference calls (and plenty that should be called).
He made a ridiculous catch inside the Washington 5-yard line, leaping to the roof to snag it. It was the kind of catch that might have had one thinking “fade” within the next few plays. Unless, of course, one was thinking, “Hey, let’s throw to the backup tackle.”
Anyway, this is the last guy who should sit.
-- JuJu Smith-Schuster: On one hand, he’s on pace for 97 catches and a career-best eight touchdowns. On the other, he has become the receiver’s version of a short-yardage back — and that cannot be the role he envisioned this season.
It certainly can’t be the role he envisions beyond this season, when he’ll look to strike it rich.
JuJu caught seven passes for 28 yards Monday. He’s had games of four catches for 28 yards, two for 6, four for 43, four for 48, five for 19 and eight for 37.
Al Villanueva gets downfield more than this guy.
It’s past time the Steelers find a way to unleash a player who has two 97-yard touchdowns to his credit — and yes, he made most of those yards after the catch. I realize he works best out of the slot. That doesn’t mean he should spend all his time catching 1-yard passes and crashing into six guys at the sticks.
We’ve reached the point where JuJu has dipped below the dreaded Hines Line.
Let me explain (and please know, Ward is one of my all-time favorite players): Ward in his last season, 2011, could barely move. The Steelers needed to give him a shovel pass behind the line to get him his 1,000th catch. After recording double-figures in yards per catch every year of his career, his average sank to 176th in the league that season, at a sickly 8.3.
JuJu’s at 8.2.
This, after going for 15.8, 12.8 and 13.1 in his first three seasons. I don’t want to make a federal case here, but this doesn’t seem like the best use of his immense skills. Now that the offense has hit the skids and become so utterly predictable, maybe it’s time to rearrange JuJu’s route tree.
-- Diontae Johnson: He can look like Antonio Brown one play and Limas Sweed the next. With a league-leading nine drops this season (and six last year), he seems like the most likely candidate to feel the brunt of Tomlin’s threat.
But at what cost?
Johnson really does have some A.B. in him, as you saw again on that brilliant touchdown that was called back Monday (and the one that counted). Roethlisberger has targeted him a team-leading 106 times for good reason. He’s slippery. He’s electric. He’s a game changer.
But he’s also a reason why the Steelers lead the AFC in drops and drop percentage. This appears to be a matter of concentration. Maybe some time watching would help.
But again, at what cost?
-- James Washington: Roethlisberger said Washington should play more — and what do you know, he saw his most snaps since Week 6, taking some of Claypool’s along the way. Maybe he’ll take some of Johnson’s snaps Sunday. He’s managed to squeeze four TDs and five “big” plays (20 yards or more) into his 25 catches. Strangely, he was hardly targeted after the 50-yard score Monday, even though the Steelers threw 374 passes. I’m OK with him as more of a specialist, secret weapon sort.
-- Eric Ebron: Roethlisberger has become enamored with the big tight end, targeting him 22 times in the past two games. Problem is, Ebron is dropping passes like he did at times in Detroit and Indianapolis.
Time to get it together — and that goes for all of ’em.
Can’t roll it down the field, you know.
