PITTSBURGH — Mitch Trubisky, Kenny Pickett and maybe Mason Rudolph face two significant challenges with the Steelers this season. The first is obvious: surviving behind the team's dreadful offensive line. Good luck with that. And the second: keeping all of the receivers happy. There is only one ball to go around.
The skill players are every bit as good as the linemen are bad.
Maybe there isn't an Antonio Brown in the Steelers group. Or a Cooper Kupp, or a Tyreek Hill, or a Davante Adams, or an A.J. Brown. But the depth and potential of the team's receivers is intriguing. I'm not sure there is a better set after the Cincinnati Bengals' Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd.
Diontae Johnson, Chase Claypool, George Pickens and even Calvin Austin III, before he was injured, have each had their moments this summer.
Everyone is excited about Pickens, who was the star of training camp, making one big play after another. He had the best catch in the first two exhibition games, his 26-yard touchdown from Rudolph in the Seattle game. It was surprising he had just two catches for six yards against Jacksonville on Saturday night. I'd be willing to bet that will be his worst statistical game of the season.
Johnson is solid. There is a reason the Steelers signed him to a two-year contract extension earlier this month worth $36.71 million with $27 million guaranteed. He had 254 catches for 2,764 yards and 20 touchdowns in his first three seasons. He picked right up against the Jaguars, catching a 16-yard slant from Trubisky and a 17-yard slant from Pickett that would have went for a touchdown if not for cornerback Chris Claybrooks' saving tackle. He also had two 11-yard catches nullified by penalties, the second on a Pickett pass for an apparent touchdown.
I'm predicting stardom for Claypool. He's big and fast with impressive ball skills. He showed his extraordinary talent as a rookie in 2020, when he had 62 catches for 873 yards and nine touchdowns. He was productive at times last season — a fabulous 22-yard catch over All-Pro corner Tre'Davious White at Buffalo, a 59-yard catch-and-run against Denver and a 40-yard catch-and-run against Baltimore — even though his touchdown total dropped to two.
He also showed his immaturity too many times, suggesting the team add music and more fun to practice after — talk about being tone-deaf — its 41-10 loss in Cincinnati and celebrating a first-down catch late in a loss at Minnesota when the team didn't have a timeout.
But if the man grows up ...
We saw again what Claypool can do at Jacksonville. He won a 50-50 ball early in the game for a 29-yard catch from Trubisky by outfighting cornerback Tre Herndon. He also had a 19-yard gain from Pickett called back by a holding call on James Daniels.
Claypool's predictions of 1,300 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns this season don't seem outrageous to me.
"I know for a fact I am not like the rest of the guys in the NFL," Claypool said earlier this summer on the "I Am Athlete" podcast. "I know I'm a top-five receiver. I know I'm a top-three receiver.
"I've just got to bring that confidence, and I've got to bring that spirit. I've just got to show the people. It's going to happen."
You know what they say, right?
You gotta believe it to achieve it.
Austin showed he could be a fit in the slot in Matt Canada's offense before a foot injury slowed him.Gunner Olszewski, Tyler Vaughns and Steven Sims have made plays this summer. And don't forget about Pat Freiermuth and Najee Harris. Ben Roethlisberger predicted greatness for Freiermuth when I spoke to him in July. Harris had 74 catches for 467 yards and three touchdowns last season in addition to his 1,200 rushing yards.
Every NFL quarterback should be as lucky as Trubisky and Pickett to have such receivers.
If only the Steelers had a better, functional offensive line.
You know the brutal truth:
The receivers won't matter if Trubisky and Pickett don't have time to get that one football to them.
