Stairway to seven: What must happen for the Steelers to win it all

Receiving depth shines without Antonio Brown

The largest downgrade for the Steelers this past offseason was trading Antonio Brown to Oakland. While the drama most likely left with Brown, his production is impossible for one man to fill.

The Steelers added Donte Moncrief in free agency and also brought back Eli Rogers. They also drafted Diontae Johnson in the third round of this year’s draft. These three are projected to make the final roster, alongside JuJu Smith-Schuster, James Washington, and Ryan Switzer. And don’t forget about tight end Vance McDonald.

To be honest, when a team loses their bona fide number one receiver, just about any team would kill for this kind of depth. The upside of this group is high, but some of it is unknown.

We know already what to expect from Switzer and Rogers out of the slot. We also know what JuJu is capable of, but can he produce as a number one receiver getting the attention of a number one receiver?

The unknowns here are Washington, Moncrief, and Johnson. Washington showed flashes of his ability, but never established any consistency. Moncrief has the ability to be a productive NFL receiver, but it’s hard to gauge due to the quarterbacks that have thrown him the ball in years past. Moncrief faired much better with the Colts rather than with Blake Bortles in Jacksonville.

We also need to see consistency from Vance McDonald. With Jesse James now in Detroit, McDonald will become the primary tight end for Big Ben to throw to.

Diontae Johnson is highly-skilled, but it’s never guaranteed for a rookie receiver to come in and become a big contributor on the offense. Not everyone is JuJu Smith-Schuster. Johnson will more likely see more time as a returner than lining up on offense. He has, however, turned quite a few heads in the first few days of practices in Latrobe.

If Moncrief, Washington, or McDonald gel with Ben Roethlisberger and become reliable targets, it opens up the entire offense. If they fail to make any impact, it could be very rough.

The Steelers need at least two of those three guys to become major role players in the passing game. Or maybe a Diontae Johnson pulls what JuJu did and shocks everyone. Either way you cut it, Ben thrives when he has options. If these guys can become consistent options, the offense will be very scary.