When the Pittsburgh Steelers were essentially forced to trade wide receiver Antonio Brown this offseason, it left a massive void on the wide receiver depth chart. Everyone assumed JuJu Smith-Schuster would take up the mantle as the team’s top threat and guys like Donte Moncrief and Diontae Johnson would fill in behind him.
But unfortunately, this hasn’t been the case. And now, with all the injuries to Steelers quarterbacks, the pressure on the wide receivers just intensifies. This brings us back to Moncrief. The free agent was brought in as a veteran presence for the young group, ideally offering something of a security blanket to whichever quarterback is under center. But thanks to his inability to catch the football, he has been a healthy scratch twice in five games.
However, there might be an answer out there. Pittsburgh needs to release Moncrief in order to potentially land a third-round compensatory pick in 2020. But who will replace him? Our vote goes to Eli Rogers. The former Steeler is healthy and looking for a team and would give Pittsburgh a guy who has proved to be productive and knows the system.
This is the perfect time to make a move. Pittsburgh is heading out to Los Angeles to play what is essentially a throwaway game with a third-string quarterback getting the start. Get Rogers in this week and give him some reps heading into the bye week. Then hopefully Mason Rudolph can return during the bye and the offense can find some semblance of consistency for the second half of the season.
