Winners and Losers from Steelers Trade Deadline Moves
Winners and losers from the Pittsburgh Steelers trade deadline acquisitions of WR Mike Williams and OLB Preston Smith.
The Pittsburgh Steelers made two big additions to their team on Tuesday, trading for former New York Jets wide receiver Mike Williams and Green Bay Packers outside linebacker Preston Smith.
The moves were generally seen as good ones by Steelers fans in an unscientific Steelers Now poll immediately after the deadline.
OK, one last poll:
How did Omar Khan do for the #Steelers at the deadline
— Alan Saunders (@ASaunders_PGH) November 5, 2024
Adding two veteran players at crucial positions for minimal cost certainly won’t hurt. But in which ways will they specifically help? Or perhaps more importantly, who are the big winners and losers from Tuesday’s Steelers moves?
Let’s break it down.
WINNER: Mike Williams
This one is pretty easy. Williams was on a bad team, where he did not seem to get along with quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and was fighting for playing time in a deep group of wide receivers. He has now been traded to a good team, with a quarterback that everyone seems to like, and that was desperate to add talent to its wide receivers room.
Williams said he was sleeping when his agent called to tell him about the trade on Tuesday. He could not have been dreaming of a better phone call to wake up to.
LOSER: Van Jefferson
Let’s give some credit to Van Jefferson. The Steelers’ veteran receiver, who will almost certainly lose a big chunk of his playing time to the new arrival, was one of the first to welcome him to the Steel City. Jefferson’s father is the wide receivers coach of the New York Jets, giving the two plenty to talk about, and the incumbent veteran of the wide receivers room took no time to lead Williams through his first day as a Pittsburgh Steeler.
Jefferson had an opportunity to cement himself as the team’s No. 2 wide receiver, but was never able to re-gain the productiveness he showed earlier in his career with the Los Angeles Rams.
WINNER: Calvin Austin III
The Steelers could have acquired any number of types of receivers, and had been liked to Carolina Panthers slot man Adam Thielen in trade talks. The fact that they went out and got a player that is an outside receiver first shows a decent amount of faith in their third-year speedster, Calvin Austin III.
Austin scored his first touchdown of the season last time out against the New York Giants, and seemed to have a good connection with Russell Wilson in OTAs and minicamp, so it seems reasonable to suspect that he could be on track for a breakout season.
LOSER: Brandon Johnson
If the Steelers didn’t make a move at receiver, more playing time for practice squad wideout Brandon Johnson seemed to make sense as the next best thing. Now with Williams on the 53-man roster, and Johnson already at the maximum of three practice squad elevations, it seems that it will take an injury for Johnson to make an impact in Pittsburgh. Johnson showed a strong connection with Wilson last season in Denver, so he’s a nice depth piece for the Steelers to hold onto, but one has to wonder if he’d find an easier path to playing time elsewhere at this point.
WINNER: Pat Freiermuth
Williams is going to have a big impact in opening up the middle of the field for the Steelers offense. Don’t take my word for it. Just ask Pat Freiermuth.
“Having those two guys that can make plays down the field, is gonna limit defenses on what they can do, and hopefully open up opportunities for me and Calvin in the middle of the field,” Freiermuth said on Wednesday. “If we can do that, and dictate what we want to do to defenses, we’ll be pretty successful moving forward.”
WINNER: Russell Wilson
If there’s a thing that Russell Wilson is best known for, it’s his moon shot deep ball that soars over the defense and drops into the shirt pocket of a streaking wide receiver.
Now with Williams added to Pickens, Wilson has another tailor-made target for his deep balls, Wilson should be a very happy man.
WINNER: George Pickens
The biggest hurdle the Steelers had in replicating the success they had in the last two games with Wilson at quarterback was what the team was going to do if teams started to double cover Pickens.
Now with a player that can really hurt a defense if left in 1-on-1 coverage on the other side, that’s going to be a tough pill to swallow.
Also, with Williams comfortable running deep balls on pretty much every play, the Steelers are free to use Pickens in a lot of other roles. He has the talent to be a true No. 1 receiver, and now the Steelers have the pieces around him to make work.
LOSER: Marlon Humphrey (and every other opposing top cornerback)
Top corners want to stick with the best target on the other team. But top corners are also usually the bigger of a team’s two corners. The Steelers have used 6-foot-2 Joey Porter Jr. against top receivers, but typically only if they’re the bigger of the two options. His cohort, 5-foot-10 Donte Jackson, is plenty fast, but is only so tall.
Now the Steelers have the 6-2, 200-pound Pickens and the 6-foot-4, 218-pound Williams. Where do you send your top corner? Better clone him.
WINNER: Arthur Smith
If Arthur Smith wanted to open up his offense more, he got exactly the kind of piece he wanted.
When Smith’s offense was at its best, he had two vertical targets as outside receivers in Tennessee in A.J. Brown and Corey Davis. Now he has that again, along with strong running back play, and probably the best collection of tight ends he’s ever had.
Wilson isn’t a speedster anymore at 35, and the offensive line remains wet behind the ears, but Smith couldn’t ask for much more than what he got at the trade deadline.
WINNER: Teryl Austin
Teryl Austin was in a no-win situation. He knew that he’d get more out of star edge rushers T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith if he played them less.
But those guys don’t necessarily want to play less. And any time something happened when one of then wasn’t on the field, the cameras would immediately pan to the Pittsburgh defensive coordinator.
Now, with Preston Smith and Nick Herbig as the second wave of pass rushers, there should be no hesitation to make a substation whenever Watt and Highsmith need a blow.
LOSER: Jeremiah Moon
Jeremiah Moon has had a roller coaster season. He looked destined for the fourth outside linebacker job since being claimed on waivers from the Baltimore Ravens in January.
Then the Steelers re-signed Markus Golden. Then Golden retired. Then Moon got hurt in the preseason. Then Herbig and Highsmith got hurt and forger OLB4, he was starting a game. Then he blocked a punt and solidified himself as a solid special teamer for Danny Smith. Now this.
Moon remains on the roster as the fifth outside linebacker, and the Steelers clearly like him as a player, but it’s going to be a battle for playing time the rest of the way.
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