Talk about your total home makeover.
That's what Daryl Drake is dealing with. Antonio Brown? Gone. Darrius Heyward-Bey? Sayonara. Justin Hunter? Gonzo.
The Steelers' wide receivers coach has a much different group to coach now than he had at the end of last season. But that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Oh sure, JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Washington are back. And so are Eli Rogers and Ryan Switzer. But after last week's NFL Draft, it appears Rogers and Switzer might be fighting for one spot on the roster.
In addition to free agent signing Donte Moncrief, the Steelers added rookie Diontae Johnson with the second pick of the third round, their second overall pick, meaning unless the Steelers keep six receivers, things could get dicey for Rogers and Switzer, who have a similar skill set to Johnson.
Or do they?
While Switzer and Rogers are both slot receivers with punt and kick return capabilities, the Steelers view Johnson as a player who can play both in the slot and on the outside.
"Diontae Johnson is a nice inside/outside capable receiver that does both punt and kick returns," Kevin Colbert said. "When we talked about Diontae in our meetings, Phil Kreidler, our scouting coordinator, when he read his report on Diontae, was just kind of funny. I know Coach Drake used the same terms, but he must’ve said 'natural' five times. It's just what we believe, that this kid is just a natural football talent."
And he was a talent the Steelers had a much higher grade on than where he wound up going in the draft. The team said similar things in the previous two years when both Smith-Schuster and Washington were mentioned.
Both, like Johnson, were the second players selected by the team in 2017 and 2018, respectively, though both went in the second round.
And while Smith-Schuster proved to be everything the Steelers had hoped and more -- he has caught 169 passes for 2,343 yards and 14 touchdowns in his first two seasons -- Washington came along a little more slowly. He had just 16 catches for 217 yards and one touchdown as a rookie, but the Steelers have big expectations for him this season.
"We’ve got some guys that need to be guys that are ascending, specifically James Washington," Mike Tomlin said last week. "But you know the climate that we create for all second-year players when we’ve had similar discussions about James Conner a year ago. We expect great things from James Washington, among others, and we’re excited about watching those guys starting to deliver."
Just in case that doesn't happen, the Steelers also added Moncrief, a former third-round pick of the Colts. At 6-foot-2, 216 pounds, he's the biggest of the Steelers' receivers. He's also the fastest, having run a 4.40-second 40 at the NFL Scouting Combine in 2014.
The production hasn't always been there for him for different reasons. Even though he played with Andrew Luck early in his career, Luck was banged up. But he did have 64 receptions for 733 yards and six touchdowns in 2015. Last year, he had 48 receptions for 668 yards and three scores for Jacksonville, despite mediocre quarterback play.
Even though the rest of the Steelers' receivers are either undersized (Switzer and Rogers) or guys who run in the 4.5-second range or higher, Drake isn't concerned about the team's speed on the outside.
"To me, speed is overrated and I’m going to say this because if you look at the greatest receivers who have played the game, those guys who are in the Hall of Fame, I only know of one who is a 4.4 guy, maybe two. James Lofton probably was, and Randy Moss," said Drake, whose coaching career stretches back to the early '80s. "You look at the rest of those guys, Jerry Rice, Cris Carter, Michael Irvin, those guys are 4.5, 4.55 guys. One of them ran 4.6. I had a guy in Arizona (Larry Fitzgerald) and he’s going to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer and he was not a 4.4 guy, but he’s a 4.4 player.
"Don’t get me wrong, you like to have that guy who can run really fast and run all of the routes and make all of the plays, but it’s very rare to have that. A guy who played here, the Steelers all-time leading receiver, what did he run? I’m talking about Hines Ward. He wasn’t really fast, but he had the native ability to learn, to know how to get open."
That's why the Steelers feel Smith-Schuster made an immediate impact as a rookie. And it's something Washington had to work on with his route running. They feel Johnson is closer to the former than he is the latter, despite being a player who is 5-foot-10 and 183 pounds, roughly the same size as Brown.
"He can function outside and inside. He did both at Toledo," Drake said of Johnson. "We’re going to put him in the best spot for us and the best spot to give him the opportunity to do the things that he can do. He can work off the nickel, he can work off linebackers, but he can also line up on the single-receiver side and beat man-on-man coverage. That was the most intriguing thing about him. We’ll play him inside and outside. He’ll line up at No. 3, at No. 2, and line up at No. 1. Any of those particular spots, and he’ll line up at No. 1 on the single receiver side."
And while Brown caught 104 passes last season -- his NFL-record fifth consecutive season with 100 or more receptions -- Smith-Schuster led the team with 111 catches. And Hunter and Heyward-Bey had just four combined.
Coupled with the 30 receptions Jesse James had as the No. 2 tight end before signing with Detroit in free agency, the Steelers have to replace 137 catches in their offense.
They feel they have the people in place to do that, especially with Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback.
"We’ve had some good fortune with receivers, and it’s really no different from how we evaluate any other position," Colbert said. "I do like to mention that they play with a Hall of Fame-capable quarterback, so I think that doesn’t hurt our receivers as they continue to develop."
DALE'S VIEW
It will be a different group to be sure, with Moncrief being the veteran of the team's receiving room.
But the attitudes will be much different. And that will be a breath of fresh air in itself.
Washington is the key to this whole thing. If he can take a nice step forward, the Steelers will be OK. He has the talent. Anyone who saw him at training camp or in practices last season can tell you that.
And the reality is that the Steelers don't need to replicate Brown's success on the field. They only need to find 137 receptions somewhere else. The touchdowns and yardage will come.
They also can run the ball more than they did in 2018, and won't that make everyone happier?
