Wide receiver Donte Moncrief impresses at Steelers minicamp

Donte Moncrief is one of the newest members of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Though we haven’t even reached training camp yet, Moncrief is raising eyebrows.

The Pittsburgh Steelers had a major void to fill at wide receiver after the departure of Antonio Brown. To add some much needed depth to a position in need, they were able to land Donte Moncrief in free agency.

Moncrief was a former 3rd round draft choice of the Indianapolis Colts, and played his most recent football for the Jaguars. Though his stats throughout his career are pedestrian, and his best season came all the way back in 2015 with the Colts, Moncrief was starting to turn some heads at Steelers minicamp this week.

According to a tweet from ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, offensive coordinator, Randy Fichtner has some kind words to say about the new Steelers receiver:

‘Unbelievable professionalism’ are the words Fichtner used to describe Moncrief. The Steelers have had anything but professionalism over the past year from two of their offensive stars, so hearing this from Fichtner is welcome news.

But it’s not just Fichtner who seems to be infatuated with what receiver Donte Moncrief has shown. Ben Roethlisberger has also reportedly been impressed with Moncrief so far:

Moncrief is a big receiver at 6’2′ and 221 pounds, but also has wheels to burn and impressive explosion – churning out a 4.40s 40-yard dash and a 39.5” vertical jump at the NFL Combine back in 2014.

James Wexell recently caught a glimpse of Moncrief running routes and catching passes from Roethlisberger:

Though we are at the point of the offseason that is hard to tell how players are going to perform (as there is currently nobody playing defense on these players), it is interesting to note how impressed members of the organization seem to be with Moncrief.

Of course, nothing will be handed to the veteran wide receiver. With a pair of young receivers in James Washington and Diontae Johnson chomping at the bit, Moncrief will need to be impressive if he wants to beat out young talent that the Steelers have invested heavily over the past two season.

It’s hard to get a gauge of how the Steelers plan on utilizing Moncrief’s skill set in 2019. However, it’s always good to hear that a player is turning heads for all the right reasons – even if it is only during minicamp.