CBS Sports: Wide Receiver Steelers’ Biggest Need Entering NFL Draft

In just a few hours, the 2024 NFL Draft will get underway in Detroit, putting to bed endless months of speculation and debates regarding players and fits with certain teams.

But in the hours before the NFL Draft, teams have some major needs on the roster that they’ll try and address in the next three days. For the Pittsburgh Steelers, one need stands above the rest, at least from CBS Sports’ perspective.

That would be the receiver position, rather than center, cornerback or even offensive tackle.

In a piece for CBSSports.com Thursday morning, analyst Josh Edwards stated that the wide receiver position is the biggest need for the Steelers entering the draft. 

“Prior to the Diontae Johnson trade, the conversation would have centered around the cornerback and offensive tackle positions. Left tackle Dan Moore Jr. and cornerback Donte Jackson give them options, but either starting will bring frustrations over the course of the season. With Johnson gone, Pittsburgh has little outside of George Pickens,” Edwards writes regarding the Steelers’ biggest need. “Fortunately, the Steelers have been one of the best franchises over the past decade-plus when it comes to identifying Day 3 receivers capable of contributing, but that may not be the answer with Russell Wilson entering his first season with the franchise.”

The Steelers traded away Diontae Johnson on March 13, surprising many, including Johnson himself. That trade with the Carolina Panthers landed cornerback Donte Jackson, addressing a need for the Steelers in the process, but in the same move created a major opening on the roster.

While Pittsburgh still has George Pickens on the roster coming off of a breakout season in 2023 and primed for a monster third season in the NFL, the Steelers haven’t properly addressed the position behind him. The Steelers also released veteran Allen Robinson II, and lost Miles Boykin to the New York Giants in free agency.

Though GM Omar Khan signed veterans Van Jefferson and Quez Watkins in free agency to address depth on the roster, there is no clear-cut No. 2 receiver on the roster next to Pickens.

The Steelers have been connected to names like San Francisco’s Brandon Aiyuk and Denver’s Courtland Sutton via trade in recent weeks, but the best avenue for the Steelers to address the receiver position might be via the NFL Draft, which is rather deep overall at the receiver position.

Pittsburgh brought in seven receivers for pre-draft visits to the South Side facility, and met with a number of the big-name players at the position via formal meetings at the NFL Combine, so interest in the draft class at the position is certainly there.

Whether the Steelers address the position via trade, early in the draft or later — or both — remains to be seen. But it is a rather large hole on the roster and can certainly be categorized as one of the biggest needs for the Black and Gold.