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At the beginning of the 2021 season, the Steelers wide receiver room consisted of Diontae Johnson, Chase Claypool, JuJu Smith-Schuster, James Washington and Ray Ray McCloud. It was considered one of the strengths of the team as Johnson was emerging as a number one receiver, Claypool was coming off a productive rookie season and Smith-Schuster was going to be the security blanket for Ben Roethlisberger. McCloud was going to be the exciting gadget playmaker, and all seemed right in Steeler Nation.
The season began with a huge win over the Buffalo Bills and while not spectacular all of the top 3 wideouts contributed heavily. By the middle of October, they had lost Smith-Schuster to an injury, and Washington had slid down to the bottom of the depth chart.
Heading into Kevin Colbert’s last offseason the long-time strength of the team was in disarray. Johnson did in fact emerge as a true number one, and Claypool tantalized with his talent again but displayed significant areas where he could still improve. McCloud stepped in to the slot role with Smith-Schuster out, and while he put up the best season of his career there wasn’t much boom to his game.
Colbert went about the business of rebuilding his receiver room, pre-draft he brought in Gunner Olszewski and claimed Miles Boykin off waivers after he was released by Baltimore. Olszewski was an All-Pro return man in New England but wasn’t a viable option as a receiver thus far in his career. It was likely the Steelers would look to the draft to continue to fill the room, but no one anticipated that Colbert was determined to cement his legacy as the best wide receiver talent evaluator in the history of the NFL.
In the 2nd round the Steelers drafted George Pickens from the University of Georgia who flashed Julio Jones upside during his time in college. He had rehabbed hard from an ACL injury and returned to the field at the end of his senior season to help the Bulldogs win a National Championship. The ACL, rumors of a difficult personality and 5 catches in his senior season caused a receiver who was likely going to be a mid-first round pick to fall to the bottom half of the second round and the Steelers happily snatched him. He is a huge target and excelled at contested catches. He also had the lowest drop % over his career in the SEC dropping just 2% of his targets.
Calvin Austin III was drafted by the Steelers in the 4th round, and I don’t think Colbert expected him to be on the board. Austin showed blazing speed at the combine running a 4.32 40 time and a huge week at the Senior Bowl in front of a huge contingent of the Steelers front office were key contributors to his selection. Austin’s tape demonstrated he was not just a gadget player but had lined up as the X receiver regularly and was excellent with the ball in his hands in space. He also has experience and dynamic ability running jet sweeps taking one 69-yards against Navy which you can view here.
Second Round Pick George Pickens (DK.com)
Smith-Schuster made a living with the Steelers over the middle of the field and Roethlisberger knew he could depend on him to make tough catches. However, as Roethlisberger’s abilities declined so did his willingness to throw over the middle to any distance further than 5 yards. That took a toll on Smith-Schuster’s ability to make plays, and his numbers.
4th Round Pick Calvin Austin III Jrca7332
McCloud was billed as a gifted returner and quick exciting player that the Steelers wanted to give every opportunity to make plays but to me, he never flashed the ability that the advertised. He was quick but not an astonishing playmaker. Austin is 1 inch shorter but significantly faster and could provide a spark in certain situations in the return game.
The first thing that jumps off the page when reviewing this data is that the Steelers have gotten faster. With a steady diet of RPO’s in Canada’s offense having 4 legitimate run and catch threats will greatly improve Mitch Trubisky and Kenny Pickett’s success rate. On traditional passing plays you can’t key on the 1 player running crossing routes versus deep routes and this group should be deadly on double moves. Before his injury Smith-Schuster and then McCloud were getting jet sweep opportunities but they were just not explosive enough to convert those opportunities. When this receiving group goes in motion the defense has to key on the motion man because if Claypool, Johnson and Austin get a step it will be a sizeable gain before a corner or safety tries to slow them down in the open field. Georgia did not feature Pickens in the jet sweep game so it is yet to be seen what he can do with those chances.
Colbert did a masterful job giving new receivers coach Frisman Jackson 2 young players that have tons of potential to be stars in the NFL. If Jackson continues the Steelers recent tradition of developing wideouts it could be the deepest and best receiving corps in the NFL, again.
What do you think Steeler Nation? Please comment below or follow me on Twitter @thebubbasq.
Support SteelerNation by clicking here to read the story..
The season began with a huge win over the Buffalo Bills and while not spectacular all of the top 3 wideouts contributed heavily. By the middle of October, they had lost Smith-Schuster to an injury, and Washington had slid down to the bottom of the depth chart.
Heading into Kevin Colbert’s last offseason the long-time strength of the team was in disarray. Johnson did in fact emerge as a true number one, and Claypool tantalized with his talent again but displayed significant areas where he could still improve. McCloud stepped in to the slot role with Smith-Schuster out, and while he put up the best season of his career there wasn’t much boom to his game.
Colbert went about the business of rebuilding his receiver room, pre-draft he brought in Gunner Olszewski and claimed Miles Boykin off waivers after he was released by Baltimore. Olszewski was an All-Pro return man in New England but wasn’t a viable option as a receiver thus far in his career. It was likely the Steelers would look to the draft to continue to fill the room, but no one anticipated that Colbert was determined to cement his legacy as the best wide receiver talent evaluator in the history of the NFL.
Colbert Dazzling Draft
In the 2nd round the Steelers drafted George Pickens from the University of Georgia who flashed Julio Jones upside during his time in college. He had rehabbed hard from an ACL injury and returned to the field at the end of his senior season to help the Bulldogs win a National Championship. The ACL, rumors of a difficult personality and 5 catches in his senior season caused a receiver who was likely going to be a mid-first round pick to fall to the bottom half of the second round and the Steelers happily snatched him. He is a huge target and excelled at contested catches. He also had the lowest drop % over his career in the SEC dropping just 2% of his targets.
Calvin Austin III was drafted by the Steelers in the 4th round, and I don’t think Colbert expected him to be on the board. Austin showed blazing speed at the combine running a 4.32 40 time and a huge week at the Senior Bowl in front of a huge contingent of the Steelers front office were key contributors to his selection. Austin’s tape demonstrated he was not just a gadget player but had lined up as the X receiver regularly and was excellent with the ball in his hands in space. He also has experience and dynamic ability running jet sweeps taking one 69-yards against Navy which you can view here.
Tale of the Tape
Winner
Second Round Pick George Pickens (DK.com)
Smith-Schuster made a living with the Steelers over the middle of the field and Roethlisberger knew he could depend on him to make tough catches. However, as Roethlisberger’s abilities declined so did his willingness to throw over the middle to any distance further than 5 yards. That took a toll on Smith-Schuster’s ability to make plays, and his numbers.
Winner
4th Round Pick Calvin Austin III Jrca7332
McCloud was billed as a gifted returner and quick exciting player that the Steelers wanted to give every opportunity to make plays but to me, he never flashed the ability that the advertised. He was quick but not an astonishing playmaker. Austin is 1 inch shorter but significantly faster and could provide a spark in certain situations in the return game.
2022 Steelers Receiver Room
The first thing that jumps off the page when reviewing this data is that the Steelers have gotten faster. With a steady diet of RPO’s in Canada’s offense having 4 legitimate run and catch threats will greatly improve Mitch Trubisky and Kenny Pickett’s success rate. On traditional passing plays you can’t key on the 1 player running crossing routes versus deep routes and this group should be deadly on double moves. Before his injury Smith-Schuster and then McCloud were getting jet sweep opportunities but they were just not explosive enough to convert those opportunities. When this receiving group goes in motion the defense has to key on the motion man because if Claypool, Johnson and Austin get a step it will be a sizeable gain before a corner or safety tries to slow them down in the open field. Georgia did not feature Pickens in the jet sweep game so it is yet to be seen what he can do with those chances.
Colbert did a masterful job giving new receivers coach Frisman Jackson 2 young players that have tons of potential to be stars in the NFL. If Jackson continues the Steelers recent tradition of developing wideouts it could be the deepest and best receiving corps in the NFL, again.
What do you think Steeler Nation? Please comment below or follow me on Twitter @thebubbasq.
Support SteelerNation by clicking here to read the story..
