3 potential free agent wide receiver targets for the Steelers

The Steelers are currently in a bad way at the wide receiver position. Here are three receivers they should consider signing right away.

The Steelers offense had its issues on Thursday night; the injuries to the receiver position was certainly one of them. Before the game even kicked off, the Steelers were down one of their receivers, as Ryan Switzer was placed on the IR due to a back injury.

Following the concussions to the two leading receivers, JuJu Smith-Schuster & rookie Diontae Johnson, the Steelers had to result to two receivers who had a combined 11 career receptions (all of which coming from one player.)

Tevin Jones is a 26-year old out of Memphis University. Thursday night was his first NFL game, and he made the first two receptions of his career. He was an undrafted free agent for Houston in 2016, where he would eventually be a member of their practice squad. After being cut, he spent some time in the same capacity with Kansas City before being signed by Pittsburgh in 2018. Jones wasn’t highly productive at Memphis, only tallying 1,200 yards and 9 touchdowns in his four years (on 90 receptions).

Johnny Holton has spent his previous three seasons in Oakland, and only logged twelve receptions over the course of three seasons. He has primarily been a special team player. However, when at receiver, his one bright spot of his career has been his yards per reception (22.8 yards per reception).

This was put on display a bit on Thursday night; Holton led the game with an average of 26.4 yards per target. In perspective, the next highest total for average yards per target were Odell Beckham Jr. and James Washington tied at 11.8 yards per target, via Next Gen Stats.

Holton saw seven targets versus Cleveland, but only caught two. One target that doesn’t show up in the stats was a pass interference he drew on a deep ball in which he beat Greedy Williams on a vertical route. The ball was under-thrown by Rudolph, and Holton did a nice job fighting through the defender to try to make a play on the ball (ultimately drawing the flag). This set up the Steelers for their only score of the game. Holton has shown significant play ability in Pittsburgh, but thus far, it has only come to fruition in the preseason.

When you pair Jones and Holton with James Washington, what you get is an inexperienced and unproven wide receiver group. In this situation, it makes sense for the Steelers to go out and sign a veteran free agent receiver; not only help fill injuries in the short term but add some depth in the future as well.

We take a look at three free-agent receivers that could help the Steelers down the stretch of the season.

It’s important to understand these players are still free agents for a reason. They may not be big splash signings, but what we’re looking for is a healthy veteran who has been shown to produce over multiple seasons.