In today’s On Sports, pinch hitting for First Call, the Steelers could be back in the market for a wide receiver, a former Steelers fan favorite wants to make a comeback and a former Steelers QB flexes on social media.

After Aiyuk

#KirkWatch doesn’t carry the same cache as #AiyukWatch. And unlike the referenced Brandon Aiyuk, DeAndre Hopkins hasn’t been a star since the Trump administration. But a Wednesday report from ESPN links the Pittsburgh Steelers to pursuit of veteran wide receiver help.

In ESPN’s weekly NFL “buzz” column, “insider” Dan Graziano said he expects the Steelers “to continue to monitor the receiver trade market as the deadline approaches.” He specifically mentions Christian Kirk of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Hopkins of the Tennessee Titans as veterans who could be available “and might be appealing to the Steelers if their teams continue to lose and fall out of the playoff race.”

Kirk is making $14.5 million and is due $15.5 million next season. Over two-plus seasons with Jacksonville after signing his mega-deal, Kirk has 151 catches for 2,003 yards and 11 touchdowns in 32 games.

A second-round pick in 2018, Kirk spent his third and fourth seasons as Hopkins’ teammate on the Arizona Cardinals. At that point, Hopkins was trending toward possible future Hall of Fame consideration.

After a stretch of five Pro Bowl honors over a six-season span (which ended in 2020 after his first year in Arizona), Hopkins has missed 15 games in the three seasons since because of injury and lost a nailed-down “starting” spot.

But even at 31 years old last season, Hopkins had 75 catches for 1,057 yards and seven touchdowns. That would suggest he could easily assume the WR2 role in Pittsburgh.

The Steelers, of course, had a monthslong flirtation with Aiyuk and the San Francisco 49ers regarding a trade-and-sign for the star receiver to serve alongside the lone true established top WR on the Steelers roster, George Pickens.

Banner day for a comeback

Zach Banner became something of a cult favorite among Steelers fans during his tenure with the organization from 2018-21, most identified with the “Mister Eligible” moniker he adopted as an oft-used “jumbo” tight end in 2019.

But the mountainous tackle (listed at 6-foot-8, 358 pounds) lamentably suffered a major injury during his first game as a true starter. In the 2020 opener against the New York Giants, Banner tore an ACL as the Steelers’ starting right tackle. He was out for the season, the knee problems lingered in 2021 and he was out of football by the following spring.

On Wednesday, at age 30, Banner released a video on his X account of him working out. The caption read, “Two years I’ve been grinding to be back… I’m ready to play football…” (Be advised, the video features bad language at the end).

The biological son of longtime NFL tackle Lincoln Kennedy, Banner was a highly recruited player out of high school who was a fourth-round pick of the Indianapolis Colts in 2017. Sixteen months later, his weight had ballooned, and he was joining his fourth NFL team — the Steelers, who still had Hall of Fame offensive line coach Mike Munchak and made Banner another in a line of O-line “rehab” projects.

It’s a shame Banner’s injury occurred when it did. He had the look of a capable starting pro right tackle. Now in his 30s and three years removed from his most recent game, Banner making it back to that point is probably a longshot.

More sports

• Mark Madden: Pirates are once again a national punchline
• U mad, bro?: Pirates fans get rowdy about Tellez; Steelers fans split over hot start
• 'Perfectly put together': Pirates phenom Paul Skenes reflects on restrictions of rookie season

Quacking his own horn

Perhaps the only player whose (unlicensed) name/image/likeness was on more T-shirts sold by Strip District vendors in 2019 than Banner was Devlin “Duck” Hodges.

For a time, Duck Mania was a thing that season as Hodges (an undersized undrafted rookie from Samford) was the Steelers’ starting quarterback for half their games. Nicknamed for his champion-level duck-calling skills, Hodges helped the Steelers rally from a 1-4 start to the precipice of the playoffs at 8-5 in mid-December during a season in which Ben Roethlisberger went down in Week 2.

Hodges’ name reemerged this week after the Steelers improved to 3-0 behind Justin Fields, who was acquired over the offseason to be a backup.

It was posited on X that Fields was the first Steelers’ quarterback to win his first three starts with the team since …

Featured Local Businesses

More local businesses

Hodges responded via the quote function: “It was that dude who dates that Hot country singer now!! Dang what was his name!! Seemed like a good dude to have a beer with.”

The answer to the question, of course, is Hodges. And “that Hot country singer” he’s dating is Grammy Award-winner Lainey Wilson.

No fan of rushing

There was a time not so long ago that Deshaun Watson was regarded as one of the NFL’s most mobile quarterbacks. During his Pro Bowl days with the Houston Texans, Watson averaged 469 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns per season from 2018-20.

In three injury- and suspension-shortened seasons with the Cleveland Browns, Watson has 402 rushing yards and three touchdowns in 15 games. That’s not a huge (per-game) drop-off in running production — but it is a drop-off.

It sounds as if Cleveland fans and media believe the Browns offense would benefit from Watson running more. But at least in terms of designed rushes for him, Watson does not sound like a fan.

When asked by media in Cleveland if he wanted the Browns to call more designed runs, Watson said, “I’m not going in there to ask them for more designed runs. … If I don’t have to run, I’m not going to run. I’m not trying to take any hits. … I’m not a running quarterback, in a sense. I can make things happen, but I’m not trying to run.

“I’m not a running back. It’s not my specialty. They signed me to throw the ball, make decisions and be a quarterback, not a runner.”

Watson has 14 carries for 85 yards and a touchdown through three games this season, though as ESPN notes (and Watson implies) most of that is on scrambles or when Watson is avoiding pressure or taking off when no receivers are open. Only three of Watson’s rushes were play calls.

Fields is eighth among NFL quarterbacks in rushing yards with 90 and a touchdown on 28 carries. Few have been designed runs — but the touchdown during the first half Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers indeed was.

Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.