The Pittsburgh Steelers are coming off of a rather impressive 2023 campaign in which they won 10 games and made the playoffs, and they have certainly made some interesting moves to tweak their roster during the 2024 NFL offseason.
The Steelers will look awfully different come September, as they have completely revamped their quarterback room. Gone are Kenny Pickett, Mitchell Trubisky and Mason Rudolph and in are Russell Wilson and Justin Fields.
Pittsburgh is obviously hoping Wilson looks a heck of a lot better than he did during his brief two-year stint with the Denver Broncos, although he certainly played better in 2023 than he did during his debut season in the Mile High City.
The Steelers were able to log double-digit wins and make the playoffs with subpar quarterback play this past year, so they can't be any worse with Wilson, right?
Well, the question is whether or not Pittsburgh has supplied Wilson (or Fields, if the Steelers should go that route) with adequate supporting talent.
Right now, Wilson's supporting cast is a serious question mark, particularly after the Steelers traded wide receiver Diontae Johnson to the Carolina Panthers.
Why trading Diontae Johnson was a risky move for the Steelers
Look, I get it: Johnson was a disappointment for Pittsburgh. He had behavioral issues, and he is coming off of two lackluster seasons after making the Pro Bowl in 2021. But all the Steelers got in return for Johnson was cornerback Donte Jackson and a sixth-round draft pick.
Jackson is a decent player, but he has a very checkered injury history and is really more of a complementary piece than anything else. Obviously, Pittsburgh just wanted to ship Johnson out of town, but the problem is that it leaves Wilson with very limited depth in his receiving corps.
The Steelers have George Pickens and, well, not much else at receiver. Yes, they took University of Michigan wide out Roman Wilson in the third round of the NFL Draft, but we know that rookies are a crapshoot, especially when taken in the third round or later.
Is Pittsburgh really going to rely on Roman Wilson as its No. 2 receiver? Or is it hoping that someone like Van Jefferson or Calvin Austin steps up?
Either way, the Steelers don't exactly have an embarrassment of riches at the position. It's essentially Pickens or bust, which makes the Jackson trade all the more peculiar.
We keep hearing that Pittsburgh is going to swing a trade for a top-flight wide receiver like Brandon Aiyuk, but that just isn't something the Steelers typically do. They don't trade for big-name receivers. It's just not their modus operandi. More than likely, the receivers you currently see on Pittsburgh's depth chart are the receivers the Steelers will enter the 2024 campaign with.
That can't make Russ feel all that comfortable.
Oddly enough, Wilson actually probably had better overall options in Denver than he currently has in Pittsburgh. There, he had the duo of Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy, and Tim Patrick served him well as a tertiary option in 2023. The Steelers do have the benefit of having a nice tight end in Pat Freiermuth, and running backs Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren can catch passes out of the backfield. But generally, a quarterback is reliant upon his wide receivers.
Pickens is very good, and he even seemed to clean up his act toward the end of last season. But Wilson will need more than just Pickens, who will now probably see plenty of double coverage now that Johnson is playing elsewhere.
What I really don't like about the Johnson trade is that it seems like the Steelers didn't have a Plan B. They didn't sign a receiver in free agency. They didn't trade for one. They didn't take one early in the draft. They just left a gaping hole there behind Pickens.
Considering that Wilson is not exactly the same signal-caller he was during his Seattle Seahawks days, you would think Pittsburgh would want to do everything in its power to ensure that the 35-year-old has ample weapons at his disposal. Instead, the Steelers took a receiver in the third round and called it a day.
Maybe Roman Wilson will surprise everyone. Maybe he will end up serving as a legitimate No. 2 option behind Pickens, and perhaps Russ will develop a great rapport with him. But it certainly seems like the Steelers are putting an awful lot of pressure on Russ to do things on his own. Five years ago, that would have been okay, but now? He probably needs some help.
Pittsburgh may end up regretting the trade of Johnson.
