Steelers top 6 wide receivers are virtual locks to make the team

The Pittsburgh Steelers are no strangers to keeping six wide receivers on hand. Here is why their current top six wide outs will make the roster in 2016.

The harsh reality of the NFL is that not everyone can make the team. About 42 percent of the players currently on the Steelers roster will be searching for employment elsewhere by September.

Though a lucky few will find their way to a practice squads, others may be done with their football careers entirely.

Unfortunately, no receiver outside of the current top six for the Steelers stands a realistic chance at making the roster. As it stands, here are the top six receivers on the Pittsburgh Steelers heading into 2019:

JuJu, Washington, Moncrief, and Johnson are all locks to make the team this year. Switzer and Rogers are virtually locked in as well (although there is a outside chance one of them could get the boot).

Because of this, players like Diontae Spencer, Tevin Jones, Johnny Holton, and Trey Griffey have basically no shot of making the team.

The Steelers haven’t been disguising how they want to use their receivers in camp. JuJu Smith-Schuster is the clear number one, and the Steelers will want him to be on the field at all times. Outside of him, receivers 2 through 6 will likely be involved in a time share this year at receiver.

With Antonio Brown no longer part of the picture in Pittsburgh, the Steelers will look to get a combination of theses receivers on the field often.

So far in camp, the Steelers have shown first-team looks of just about every combination of these receivers you can think of. Here are some of the receiver groupings they have had in 11 personnel packages so far during training camp:

As you can see, the Steelers are exploring a lot of different options. The one consistent players in all of these first-team reps is JuJu Smith-Schuster. JuJu has lined up at all three receiver spots during the first week of training camp, and he will be on the field as often as possible.

The five receivers outside of JuJu stand to play key roles on the offense, and it is hard to predict which receivers will earn the most snaps this season.

Even if one of the receivers outside of this group has a miraculous preseason, I still don’t know how they could find their way on this team.

There is a small chance that another receiver could supplant Switzer or Rogers if the Steelers elect to go with a special teams stud (in the mold of Darrius Heyward-Bey). However, the top 6 receivers are well cemented on the roster, and I don’t think they are going anywhere anytime soon.