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NFL Draft WR Draws Comparisons to Steelers Do-It-All Weapon
The Pittsburgh Steelers made significant use of backup running back and kickoff return Cordarrelle Patterson in the 2024 season, and while Patterson is a potential salary cap casualty this offseason, there could be a ready-made replacement waiting for the Steelers in the 2025 NFL Draft in TCU’s Savion Williams
Williams is a 6-foot-5, 212-pound wide receiver that was expected to be one of the top receivers available to the Steelers in the 2025 NFL Draft class. But Williams had an underwhelming senior season with the Horned Frogs in 2024. He had 41 catches for 573 yards and four touchdowns in 2023. This season, he had 60 more receptions but totaled just 611 yards and six touchdowns.
He was, however, used much more as a ball-carrier. Williams had 11 carries for 62 yards in 2023. This past season, he rushed 51 times for 322 yards and six more touchdowns.
TCU mostly used him as a Wildcat quarterback, but at the 2025 NFL Combine this week, Williams will also be working out as a running back in addition to wide receiver.
Williams in currently No. 78 on the NFL Mock Draft Database consensus big board, just ahead of the Steelers third-round pick at No. 84.
Patterson took a same career path. The first-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings in the 2013 NFL Draft, Patterson had a wide receiver’s body at 6-foot-2, 220 pounds. But he found inconsistent success at the NFL level as a receiver, and it wasn’t until a move to the running back position with Chicago six years later that his NFL career really started to take off.
Patterson spent three seasons with Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith with the Atlanta Falcons, being used as do-it-all offensive weapon, lining up as a running back, wide receiver and also returning kickoffs.
He reprised that role for the Steelers in 2024, but whether it was the new kickoff rules, or simply Patterson now being 33 years old, the kickoff part of his duties were a struggle in 2024. Patterson’s average yards per return fell from 21.9 in 2023 to 21.8 in 2024, but the league average jumped from 23.0 to 27.6. Of players with at least three kickoff returns, Patterson finished dead last in average yards per return.
Patterson is owned $2.8 million in 2025, none of which is guaranteed. A release would cause the Steelers to incur a $950,000 dead cap hit, and the team would net $2.8 million in savings.