With just days to go until the 2020 NFL draft, we are going to go through all of the Steelers positional units to review the current state of the roster, gauge draft needs and talk about some approaches to addressing the need.
This time let’s talk about the wide receivers.
Roster
On paper, the Steelers have a quality three-deep at wide receiver. JuJu Smith-Schuster is only one season removed from catching more than 100 passes. James Washington was quickly the team leader in receiving yards and yards per catch in 2019. And Diontae Johnson proved as a rookie he is ready to be a star in the NFL. Unfortunately, these three were severely limited due to some downright awful quarterback play in the absence of Ben Roethlisberger.
The Steelers have a handful of other wide receivers on the current roster but none spark any excitement. Ryan Switzer is a great guy and I’m sure he’s an awesome teammate but offers little in the way of an offensive spark.
Draft need
You might think with Johnson, Smith-Schuster and Washington on the roster, adding another wideout early in the draft but this is where we are. The reason is for all the talent among these three, every team can use a fourth wideout who can come in and allow for more scheme flexibility. And the way Pittsburgh can do this is by adding a player with deep speed.
This draft has multiple guys who will go in the first three rounds who can legitimately pull the top off a secondary and we won’t be at all surprised if the Steelers use a second or third-round pick on one of them. With Roethlisberger coming back but his window closing, the Steelers front office should do all they can to help him out.
Potential targets
Jalen Reagor | TCU
Devin Duvernay | Texas
Antonio Gibson | Memphis
Chase Claypool | Notre Dame
John Hightower | Boise State
