For the Pittsburgh Steelers’s bad luck with this weak quarterback draft class, they seem to have more than made up for it at another important offensive position of need.
Over the past couple years, the Steelers believed they could target a long-term QB of the future in 2026 — only to see the crop of draft-eligible passers thin out and deteriorate from what was supposed to be an unusually strong crew into a group that sees only one taken in the first round.
But wide receiver? That’s a much different story. The Steelers are still short a “starting” WR3, but they could fill that need early in the draft Pittsburgh is hosting this weekend.
“The wide receiver depth is great in this draft,” ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. said during a conference call with media. “It’s the strongest position in this draft. Deep into the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh round. There’s 45 receivers with draftable grades right now.
“So with wideouts, it kind of just comes down to ‘fits.’ ”
For the Steelers, that means finding a wideout who “fits” next to DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman Jr., the pair of veteran established starters they acquired the past two springs.
In regards to what type of wide receiver would “fit” in an offense along with Metcalf and Pittman, new coach Mike McCarthy said he doesn’t see it that way at all.
In the mind of McCarthy — a longtime respected NFL offensive coach — receivers shouldn’t fit into predetermined boxes or silos. McCarthy, in an ideal world, wants to be able to deploy all of his wide receivers at all of his WR spots.
“Because our offensive system is built on making a quarterback successful,” McCarthy said. “When you have to run concepts in the pass game dictated on, ‘This receiver can do this, and this receiver can do that,’ then you don’t have the ability to move them around as much.
“When you can move players around, now you challenge the defense. And you can create more matchups, and you keep things simpler for the quarterback.”
With six picks in the first three rounds, the Steelers are almost assuredly adding a wide receiver — at least one — with one of their early picks. Taking one at 21st overall — or, perhaps, even trading up from there to target one — is very much in play.
As the draft countdown has begun to be counted in “hours” instead of by “weeks” or “days,” the general consensus from the draft analyst industrial complex is that there is a clear top tier of three wide receivers expected to be taken before the No. 21 pick: Ohio State’s Carnell Tate, Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson and USC’s Makai Lemon.
After that seems to be a second tier of three more WRs who could go in the bottom half of the first round: Indiana’s Omar Cooper Jr., Texas A&M’s KC Concepcion and Washington’s Denzel Boston.
At that point, as NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah put it, “there’s wide receivers galore” in the area of the second round.
Jeremiah, incidentally, agrees with Kiper that receiver is the deepest position in the draft. In some ways, then, the Steelers will have an ability to zero in on the type of receiver they prefer.
“I think it’s critical that (receivers) play to the “1’ position, the ‘2’ position, and the ‘3’ position,” McCarthy said, referencing the outside “X” and “Z” spots in addition to the widely used slot “F” receiver.
In examining the Steelers’ WR room before the draft, consider Pittman last season roughly ran two-thirds of his routes from the outside and one-third from the slot (all data courtesy Pro Football Focus). Metcalf, though, had a ratio of roughly 7-to-1 of lining up outside versus inside.
Among the highest-rated receivers in this draft, Lemon is the one most accustomed to playing the slot (roughly one-third of his usage last season). Tyson was out wide for 76% of his receiver snaps, and for Tate it was almost nine of out 10 occasions.
In that predicted “second tier” of draft-eligible receivers, Cooper in 2025 was the most likely to play the slot (80% of receiver snaps played). Concepcion was almost exactly at two-thirds/one-third in regards to outside/slot, and Boston lined up in the slot for only roughly 15% of his receiver snaps.
But Boston joins Tate as the biggest outliers. On whole, this group all has the versatility McCarthy covets.
“I’ve always looked for the guy that was athletic enough and had the ability to win outside the numbers,” McCarthy said, “(and) the ability to win out there, and then transfer that size and skillset inside.”
Top 5 wide receivers
1. Carnell Tate, Ohio State
Junior, 6-2, 192
Playing behind bevy of current/future NFL WRs at OSU, Tate broke out as second-team All-America in 2025
2. Makai Lemon, USC
Junior, 5-11, 192
Slot receiver who won Biletnikoff Award (nation’s best WR) after having 79 catches, 1,156 yards, 11 TDs
3. Jordyn Tyson, Arizona
Redshirt junior, 6-2, 203
Knee, collarbone and hamstring injuries hampered college career but will was a two-time third-team All-America
4. Omar Cooper, Indiana
Redshirt junior, 6-0, 199
Has finished seasons ranked among nation’s top four in YPC (21.1 in 2024) and TD catches (13 in 2025)
5. KC Concepcion, Texas A&M
Junior, 6-0, 196
After leading NC State in receiving twice, played 2025 in SEC and was named All-America