Gerry Dulac: Why the Steelers zeroed in on wide receivers ahead of the 2026 NFL draft
PITTSBURGH - The Pittsburgh Steelers haven't drafted a dynamic offensive player in four years and have had to use trades or free agency to add difference-makers.
When they previously made attempts to find them in the NFL draft, they later determined those players, Chase Claypool and George Pickens, to be more troublesome than impactful. They quickly moved on from them.
On top of that, they have drafted just one Pro Bowl player in the past eight years - only to trade him a couple years later.
Mike McCarthy has a chance to change all that this week.
Armed with five draft picks among the first 99, the new Steelers coach has the flexibility to go after top-tier players and the opportunity to make his first draft with his hometown team a special one.
Despite trading for Michael Pittman Jr. to pair with DK Metcalf, the Steelers remain perilously thin at wide receiver. The only two behind them are Roman Wilson and Ben Skowronek - players who have combined for 21 catches in two seasons. And for McCarthy, a coach who relies on a stockpile of offensive weapons, that is not enough.
Drafting a wide receiver might not carry the same urgency as it did before the Pittman trade. But it remains a first-round possibility for the Steelers, depending on the player available.
And, if the Steelers elect to wait until Day 2 to take a receiver, they will likely look at three positions - cornerback, safety and guard - when deciding which player to choose with the 21st overall selection.
The Steelers have a dozen draft choices overall, and despite McCarthy's proclamation a couple weeks ago that he has no issues using all 12, general manager Omar Khan and he would merely be wasting picks on players who have little chance of making the roster if they didn't trade away at least four.
While it might be a stretch to say the Steelers have a Super Bowl roster on their hands, they still have only one position where a rookie could step in as a starter - left guard.
That's not to say they could not use an infusion of young depth. But bringing in 12 draft choices would represent a failure to use their plethora of picks to make package deals and move up in the draft order. And not just in the first round.
Granted, it's not as easy as it sounds. As Khan has pointed out, the Steelers first have to find teams willing to make such moves. But the Steelers have a luxury of draft picks to offer a team that needs a wholesale makeover.
The Steelers do not need that. They need as much top-tier talent they can muster, which, after all, is one of the reasons they were content to stockpile draft choices.
Initially, the hope was to be able to have enough bargaining chips to move up to get a potential franchise quarterback. But the Steelers think there is only one in the draft, Fernando Mendoza, and do not believe there is another with a first-round grade.
Nonetheless, the Steelers need to find difference-makers in this draft and they have the ability to do so.
With a deep crop of wide receivers, it is almost a foregone conclusion the Steelers will use a top pick on one of the many available. They brought in six wide receivers among the top 30 prospects who visited the South Side.
However, after making a trade for Pittman, the likelihood they will take one with the 21st overall pick has been diminished, though not dismissed.
The Steelers haven't drafted a Pro Bowl player since wide receiver Diontae Johnson, a third-round pick in 2019 who made the Pro Bowl in 2021. Johnson was traded two years after that.
This is a good opportunity to change that.
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This story was originally published April 19, 2026 at 2:34 AM.