It’s been a rough go of things for Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf. In five games, he has just 19 receptions for 225 yards, putting him on pace for 65 catches, 762 yards, and three touchdowns. And while those numbers are far from horrible, they certainly shouldn’t reflect that of a wide receiver making $33 million per year.
Metcalf has received a lot of well-placed criticism for his production, or lack thereof, in relation to his pay. However, in Pittsburgh’s last two wins, he’s made
plays that haven’t shown up on the stat sheet that prove he’s willing to do the dirty work.
On Jaylen Warren’s 80-yard touchdown catch and run, Metcalf threw two key blocks that sprung Warren down the sideline.
This isn’t a one-off from Metcalf, either. On the first play from scrimmage for Pittsburgh’s offense against the Bengals in Week 3, Aaron Rodgers hit Warren out of the backfield. Metcalf immediately found a body to get his hands on, and he turned what would have been an eight-yard gain to a 30-yard gain.
And even when balls aren’t thrown Metcalf’s way, he is drawing double coverage from opposing defenses, which is opening up opportunities for others to make plays. For instance, the Bengals shade a safety over the top of Metcalf, which opened up things across the middle for Roman Wilson to pick up 18 yards.
We all want to see Metcalf have bigger performances in the box score and have larger impacts on wins with big catches. But the silver lining in his sub-par stats is that he’s making a difference by blocking hard, taking up attention from defenses, and doing gritty work that many stars shy away from. And as those other opportunities for others like Wilson and Germie Bernard open up, defenses will have to take away their extensive coverage on Metcalf if Pittsburgh’s other play-makers carve them up.
This is a deeper group of weapons for Pittsburgh than it was a season ago. As the season progresses, Metcalf will naturally see more balls come his way. It then becomes up to him to make the most of those chances.
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