Let’s mock the 2020 NFL draft: Steelers are on the clock

The Steelers can bolster the receiving corps by drafting the best Wide Receiver available

The 2019 NFL season was not very kind to the Steelers offense.  As has been well chronicled, the offense was the epitome of inept.  According to NFL.com, the Steelers offense finished with the 30th ranking.  That’s pretty awful.

What’s more awful is where the passing game ended the 2019 campaign-31st.  That’s correct; the Steelers passing game was the second-worst in the NFL last season. The fault for the feckless air attack can not fall entirely on the receiving corps; however, the argument could be made that the receiving corps did not help themselves with sub-standard play.

Too often the receivers just could not get any separation from the opposing defenders; too often the receivers just could not ‘stretch the field’.  For these reasons, I believe we will make our first pick of the 2019 NFL draft a Wide Receiver, ideally one who can ‘stretch the field’ and who can separate from the defender trying to cover him.

I am not suggesting that the Steelers need to find a ‘number one’ receiver with the second-round pick as I believe that JuJu Smith-Schuster, our presumed ‘number one’ receiver who himself was a second-round pick, will have a bounce-back season in 2020.  Having missed four games during the 2019 season, Smith-Schuster could not really get on track, thus the passing game suffered.

Obviously, I don’t know who will be available in the second round, but I think it’s fair to say the Steelers will have some options at the WR position when we finally get the draft rolling. My only hope is that we will choose wisely, as the first pick in any draft generally sets the tone for the rest of the draft.

Let’s continue by speculating about the third-round pick.