I didn’t agree with the premise of the question, but I did agree with how Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike McCarthy answered it.
On Monday’s “Pat McAfee Show,” McCarthy was asked what it is going to be like to have “two No. 1” wide receivers on the 2026 roster next season, now that newly acquired Michael Pittman Jr. can be paired with DK Metcalf.
McCarthy said he had a high opinion of Pittman coming into the NFL Draft in 2020, but the team decided to take future All-Pro CeeDee Lamb when he was still available at No. 17.
"I loved Michael Pittman coming out of the draft..
He's a perfect fit for us in Pittsburgh"
Coach McCarthy #PMSLivepic.twitter.com/VSYHvvojMj
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) March 30, 2026
“He’s perfect. Bigger target. Can play all three spots — the X, Z and the F. Move him around,” McCarthy said of Pittman. “That’s just the way we like to play football. We like to play concept football and keep moving our guys around and try to create matchups.”
That’s how we described Pittman in this space after Pittsburgh general manager Omar Khan traded for him in early March.
One way I wouldn’t describe Pittman, though, is as “a No. 1 receiver.” He wasn’t Indianapolis’ No. 1 receiver last year. He hasn’t been for two years. That’s been Alec Pierce. Pittman only averaged 9.8 yards per reception last year.
Metcalf wasn’t the No. 1 wide receiver when he left Seattle, either. Jaxon Smith-Njigba was.
This past season, Metcalf may have been Pittsburgh’s No. 1 receiver. But 59 catches for 850 yards, and just two 100-yard games, don’t exactly connote the aura of a No. 1 target.
It strikes me that the Steelers have a pair of high-end No. 2 receivers, not two No. 1 threats.
Maybe they can find their future No. 1 receiver in the upcoming NFL draft. That’s what Seattle did in 2023 when it had Metcalf and Tyler Lockett but took Smith-Njigba 20th overall anyway.
Like Smith-Njigba, McCarthy could perhaps weave the rookie into the game plan. Smith-Njigba only started three games and had just 63 catches for 628 yards and four touchdowns. Since then, he’s spent the last two seasons as a Pro Bowler with a total of 219 catches (16 for scores) and 2,923 yards.
That would require the Steelers selecting the right pass catcher high enough in the first round or two next month. Just because the Steelers got Pittman, that shouldn’t mean that the Steelers are done addressing that position. In fact, assuming Aaron Rodgers returns at quarterback, bolstering wide receiver depth is still the Steelers’ greatest need.
McCarthy likes to deploy three receivers quite a bit. Right now, the Steelers’ best option for that third receiver is Roman Wilson. Over his first two seasons, due to injury and ineffectiveness, Wilson has been a player who has put next to nothing on tape to instill any confidence that he could be a long-term solution in that role. Yet McCarthy talked up Wilson on Monday when speaking with TribLive and other Pittsburgh media outlets at the NFL owners meetings in Arizona.
“I like Roman,” McCarthy said. “Looking forward to working with him. He’s a young man. New systems. Fresh start. I’m hoping he’s one of those guys who will benefit from it. I was impressed with just talking football with him. There are a lot of people who have a lot of love for him in the building.”
That’s great. Still, draft a receiver in one of the first two rounds.
If you are going to play three of them a lot, you are going to need at least four capable ones. And Wilson has a long way to go to prove himself capable. Like Pittman, find a guy who is versatile enough to move around and play multiple positions.
It sounds like that’s McCarthy’s goal.
“I don’t like to play: ‘This guy’s an X, this guy’s a Z, and this guy’s an F,’” McCarthy said. “If guys make the 53-man roster, everybody has to have two jobs unless you’re a kicker or quarterback. That third, fourth, fifth receiver, when you have guys that are position specific, (and) they really don’t do anything else, they have got to be an All-Pro. I’ve always looked for diversity in a receiver. I like receivers that can play all three spots because I want to move the receivers around, so the quarterback has the same read.”
Underscoring McCarthy’s point, if you look at his 2010 Green Bay team that beat the Steelers in the Super Bowl, Jordy Nelson was 6-foot-3, 217 pounds. But Rodgers’ other three main receiving threats — Donald Driver, Greg Jennings and James Jones — were all between 6-foot and 6-1 and 194-208 pounds.
Those four men combined to catch 222 passes for 3,091 yards and 23 touchdowns.
For the record, Smith-Njigba is 6-foot, 197 pounds. Those are nearly the exact dimensions of Makai Lemon (USC), Omar Cooper Jr. (Indiana) and K.C. Concepcion (Texas A&M), three of the seven receivers that NFL.com has tabbed as top 40 prospects in this year’s draft.
Omar Cooper Jr. is going to be a day 1 contributor for an NFL team pic.twitter.com/YxAJI2lxky
— NFL Draft Files (@NFL_DF) January 10, 2026
While Carnell Tate (Ohio State) and perhaps Jordyn Tyson (Arizona State) may be gone by the time the Steelers pick at No. 21, at least one of those three still might be available. Washington’s Denzel Boston (6-foot-4, 212) and Tennessee’s Chris Brazzell II (6-foot-4, 196) are in that range, too, but maybe more strictly outside the numbers, downfield, one-on-one threats.
Give me any one of those guys at WR3 and keep Wilson in reserve. That’ll make me happy.
I’m guessing that would also make Rodgers happy — if he really does plan on showing up again. Eventually.
It’s a long road toward fixing the Steelers wide receiver position. But it at least appears that McCarthy has an internal compass for the position that’ll help Khan and his staff stay on the right path over NFL Draft weekend.