Pittsburgh Steelers hope for continued success drafting wide receivers

Since 2009, no team drafts and develops wide receivers like the Pittsburgh Steelers. Could the team draft a receiver for the eighth year in a row?

In 2012, the Pittsburgh Steelers began an active streak of taking at least one wide receiver in every NFL Draft. However, the team’s real success with drafting receivers began in 2009, when the organization took Mike Wallace in the third round. Hopefully, Pittsburgh can continue finding wide receiver gems in 2020.

Coming off a year where the team whiffed on Limas Sweed with a second-round pick, the Steelers went to the well for another pass-catcher. The franchise selected Wallace with the 84th overall pick in the 2009 draft. Not content, Pittsburgh picked Emmanuel Sanders in the third-round and Antonio Brown in the sixth-round the following year.

The 2010 Steelers featured Wallace and Hines Ward as starters with Brown, Sanders and veteran receiver Antwaan Randle El coming off of the bench. In their careers, those five receivers combined for 3,350 receptions, 43,778 receiving yards and 274 receiving touchdowns. Unfortunately, the team could not retain its talented crop of pass-catchers.

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Departures and retirements pushed Pittsburgh into drafting more receivers. The team missed on Toney Clemons in 2012, but briefly found some success with Markus Wheaton in 2013. Wheaton, a third-round pick, produced 97 receptions for 1,393 yards and seven touchdowns during his two-year peak with the Steelers. However, he could not maintain his production outside of Pittsburgh.

In 2014, the Steelers went hunting for more receivers. The team used a third-round pick on dynamic running back/receiver Dri Archer, but he never panned out. Instead, the franchise struck gold in a fourth-round pick from Clemson. Martavis Bryant flourished as a reliable deep threat and became the team’s second-leading receiver in 2015. Unfortunately, issues with substance abuse led to his quick decline.

In 2015, the Steelers added Sammie Coates in the third round. However, inconsistent play and dropped passes led to his departure after two seasons. Demarcus Ayers, a 2016 draft pick, also didn’t pan out.

After the two-year slip, Pittsburgh began finding productive receivers again. The Steelers snagged JuJu Smith-Schuster with a second-round pick in 2017. The top receiver entering the 2016 college football season, Smith-Schuster saw his stock drop and landed in Pittsburgh’s lap. He made the Pro Bowl in 2018.

The Steelers targeted receivers in each of the previous two drafts as well. In 2018, the team took James Washington in the second round and they used a third-rounder on Diontae Johnson last year.

While Smith-Schuster dealt with injuries last season, Johnson and Washington combined for 103 receptions, 1,415 yards, and eight touchdowns. Johnson also earned Second-Team All-Pro honors as a punt returner.

Despite the occasional miss, the Steelers do an exceptional job of drafting and replacing wide receivers. Currently, the team features three young pass-catchers, all on their rookie contracts. With Ben Roethlisberger back at the helm in 2020, Steelers fans can look forward to the offense returning to glory. Hopefully, some of the young receivers take their games to the next level this coming season.