The Pittsburgh Steelers’ receiving corps is a group that has been ridiculed over the last pair of seasons, and rightfully so. While they’ve had a legitimate No. 1 in each of those seasons in George Pickens and DK Metcalf, the depth behind them (or lack thereof) has been among the worst in the NFL in each year.
The likes of Scotty Miller, Van Jefferson, Allen Robinson, Calvin Austin, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Adam Thielen were the names expected to be legitimate options in that span. However, the Steelers
added Michael Pittman Jr. via trade with the Indianapolis Colts and Germie Bernard in the second round of the 2026 NFL Draft.
Joining me on the latest episode of The Pump Fake, former Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley said that Pittman is the most important addition of the offseason for Pittsburgh.
“Michael Pittman is a solid 1B, 2A – however you want to look at it,” Haley said. “He’s experienced, he understands how to play. I’m sure he and Aaron will get on the same page very quickly… I think the addition of Pittman is the most important addition for the Steelers offense”
Haley also noted that if Germie Bernard can come along quickly, Pittsburgh could end up having a trio similar to the one he had as offensive coordinator with the Arizona Cardinals in 2008 with Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, and Steve Breaston when Arizona made it to the Super Bowl.
“With Bernard, he’s a key component,” Haley said. “How quickly can he come along? It’s hard as a young receiver to just show up and all of a sudden play against NFL coverages and defenses. So [their additions] are huge. When you have just one [receiver], it’s nice, but defenses can take one away. But when you have two, and maybe three, that’s what we had the benefit of having in Arizona. We not only had a great quarterback that understood where to put the football, and did it accurately, we had [the question] of who are you going to add extra coverage to? Larry Fitzgerald? Anquan Boldin? And if you do that, Steve Breaston was obviously fast enough to hurt you pretty quickly.”
Fitzgerald, Boldin, and Breaston are one of just five trios in NFL history to all have 1,000 yards in a season, and the last trio to do it back in that 2008 season. And while it would be unfair to expect the current Steelers’ trio to replicate that, the offense would do serious damage if they can come anywhere close to Arizona’s high-flying offense that faced Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XLIII.
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