Bell: One Obvious Way to Solve Steelers WR Problem after Pickens Trade
Over the past eight months or so, the Pittsburgh Steelers jettisoning of wide receiver George Pickens felt inevitable. But with the timing of the deal on Wednesday morning, they’ve put themselves in both a familiar and uncomfortable situation heading into OTAs: without a proven WR2 on the roster.
As you’d expect at this point in the proceedings, the free agency options are pretty bleak, leaving a trade as their best avenue for an upgrade. Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst should be their first call.
Over the course of my lifetime, the two best organizations at identifying and developing wide receiver talent have been the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers. The latter is in a much better situation as we sit here today, so much so that they have an excess of talent that they won’t be able to properly utilize. After selecting Matthew Golden in the first round and doubling back with Savion Williams a day later, it leaves an uncertain future for some of their established core players.
Gutekunst will be adding Golden and Williams to a group that includes 2023 draft picks Dontayvion Wicks and Jayden Reed and 2022 picks Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs.
As Doubs is entering the final year of his rookie contract, he’s the most likely odd man out in this situation. As a fourth-round pick out of Nevada, he stepped into the Packers’ X-receiver role and quickly earned the trust of Hall of Fame signal caller Aaron Rodgers. Doubs has good size (6-foot-2, 201 pounds) and massive 10-inch hands. He really shines with the ball in the air because of his body control, toughness and ability to pluck the ball away from his frame. He’s caught 52.5% of his contested catch targets since 2022, another example of how his ball skills have translated early on.
Last year was a tough one for Doubs as he suffered a concussion and was suspended following a dust-up with the organization. But when studying his targets from last season, his improvements as a route runner were noticeable despite his high-cut build. The Packers have really leaned into a receiver-by-committee approach since the departure of Davante Adams, but in critical situations, the ball seemed to head in his direction. That speaks to his steadiness as a player.
Doubs’ red-zone prowess, movement patterns and play-style remind me of another former Packers receiver in James Jones. The lack of overwhelming physical traits limit his ceiling but this he is still a useful player overall. The remaining questions would be about fit and cost. Metcalf is the Steelers X-receiver and it’s anyone’s guess about which archetype of receiver they covet as a compliment.
The Steelers should also inquire about third-year wideout Wicks, who took a step back last year after flashing as a rookie. His calling card is what he brings to the table as a route runner. His ability to change directions, get in and out of his breaks efficiently allows him to create separation for himself versus man coverage. Wicks is primarily a two-level threat that specializes in quick hitters and option routes underneath with some deeper dig and curl routes mixed in over the middle.
He’s quicker than he is fast, but his ability to get open is something that has translated to the league. One area that he surprised me on film is that he’s a better player after the catch than I originally realized. Wicks transitions quickly to being a runner and has pretty good balance as a ball carrier, leading to him averaging 5.3 yards after catch per reception in 2023.
His one potentially fatal flaw is that he just struggles to catch the football, both when he’s wide open and in traffic. His 18% drop-rate is reminiscent of his final season at Virginia, with his hands being one reason he fell to the fifth round.
Wicks is an imperfect player for sure, but the Steelers could absolutely use someone that can create separation on their own. One sneaky benefit is that he’s been Green Bay’s primary backup across the board and is capable of playing all three spots because he’s capable of beating press coverage out wide. All of the Packers receivers for the most part block well for their teammates in the run and screen game, with Wicks being no exception in that regard.
The trade compensation part of this ultimately boils down to the Packers brass being willing to move off one of these guys a bit early, despite Christian Watson’s injury timeline, in an effort to recoup some draft capital. Obviously, the Steelers are flush with 2026 draft picks. Doubs is more steady with a proven track record, while Wicks gives them a skill set they currently lack with one additional year of control from a contractual standpoint. Perhaps a fourth-rounder or conditional fifth-round selection is enough to get Green Bay to play ball here.
None of this means that the Steelers have to give up on youngsters like Calvin Austin III or Roman Wilson. But it would be negligent of them to stand pat. At the very least, they should be pursuing another talented youngster just to have the capacity to spam bodies at the problem. Otherwise, you run the risk of becoming one-dimensional in the room again and we all saw how that played out last season. Neither Doubs or Wicks are as talented as Pickens, but I do believe that both of them are capable of producing more in larger roles.
For a team in transition, that’s worth the dice roll.