The Steelers can solve their running back and wide receiver depth issues by drafting a playmaking WR to play a hybrid role.
Well, Steelers fans, the way I see it, we’re in unchartered waters socially and it makes sense that our favorite football team follows suit and does something unusual, especially for this particular franchise. In my recent mock draft, the football gods smiled on the Steelers as Laviska Shenault Jr., WR, Colorado, fell to them in the second round.
The more I think about this pick, the more I love it, but not for the reasons most fans would expect. It’s fairly apparent that the Steelers need a yin to James Connor’s yang in the running game. Conner is very efficient between the tackles with great vision and power, but it’s doubtful most defenses lose sleep over the concept of him bouncing one outside. While Pittsburgh seems to have a blueprint for the type of player they like that the position, it’s time they break the mold and do something similar to what the Green Bay Packers have done with Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams.
The “book” on Shenault is fairly straight forward. Some have called him the best athlete in the entire 2020 draft. Everyone agrees he is a special playmaker once he has the ball in his hands but there are some criticisms about the quality of his route running. All that said, there is a difference between the WR from Colorado and other “playmakers” that fans have become accustomed to teams using “in space.” What is that difference?