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Barring a late-offseason acquisition, the Pittsburgh Steelers will head into training camp hoping that at least one wide receiver rises to the occasion behind George Pickens.
Per Bleacher Report’s Joe Tansey, it would be a mistake to count on current projected WR2 Van Jefferson to be that guy.
“Van Jefferson was brought in to be a key piece of the passing game behind George Pickens,” Tansey wrote after calling him a player that “won’t live up to [the] hype” in 2024.
“Jefferson has had a disappointing NFL career outside of his 800-yard season with the Los Angeles Rams in 2021,” he continued. Noting that there is now some “pressure on him as the current No. 2 behind Pickens” despite only managing 209 receiving yards between the Rams and Atlanta Falcons last season.
The Steelers signed the disappointing second-round talent shortly after trading Diontae Johnson to the Carolina Panthers. They also drafted Roman Wilson and took veteran flyers on Marquez Callaway, Quez Watkins and Scotty Miller — so they aren’t as overly reliant on Jefferson as it appears on paper.
Despite doubting the free agent newcomer, Tansey seemed to agree with that sentiment, concluding that “rookie Roman Wilson and Calvin Austin III could fly past Jefferson on the depth chart, and if that is the case, he may be relegated to spotty on-field duty, like he was in Los Angeles and Atlanta.”
Is that enough for this Pittsburgh offense to move the ball behind one of the better defenses in football?
Steelers Place Bottom 6 in NFL Skill Position Ranking
Jefferson’s questionable track record as a viable number two really highlights a larger issue — the Steelers have very few sure things at wide receiver at the moment.
That was evident in an ESPN ranking from staff writer Bill Barnwell on July 10. The article listed each NFL team in order of combined WR, TE and RB talent, and the Steelers were placed 27th out of 32.
And the main reason they ranked that high was because of Pickens, according to Barnwell.
“A year ago, I was excited about Pickens’ chances of making a leap by virtue of having the league’s toughest expected catch rate of any player as a rookie,” he explained. “Well, in his second season, among wideouts who ran 400 routes or more, he had … the fourth-lowest expected catch rate of any wide receiver (53.6%). And again, Pickens exceeded expectations, catching 59.4% of the balls thrown in his direction by Pittsburgh’s array of quarterbacks.”
The ESPN analyst seemed less impressed by new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith and less confident in trusting Roman Wilson and Jefferson to support Pickens.
Can Steelers QB Russell Wilson Succeed Under ‘Immense Amount of Pressure’ in 2024?
In the same Bleacher Report article, Tansey also named quarterback Russell Wilson as a player that he believes is being overhyped heading into the 2024 campaign — which would be more of a concern than Jefferson if proven correct.
“Russell Wilson comes into Pittsburgh with an immense amount of pressure on him to succeed,” the writer stated. “Wilson’s season with the Denver Broncos did not go as planned and it resulted in him landing in the AFC North. Wilson not only carries the internal pressure to be better than last season, but he also faces external pressure from Justin Fields, who himself is looking to prove he can still be an NFL starter.”
It’s true that Wilson will likely find himself on the hot seat more often than not this year with the potential of Fields waiting in the wings, but the former Super Bowl champion does know a thing or two about pressure.
“Fields is the younger and more mobile option for the Steelers, and he will be talked about at every underperforming second of Wilson’s season,” Tansey argued. It’ll be interesting to see how these offensive bets shake out for Pittsburgh once the players take the field in September.
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