Mar 9, 2019 6 min read

Let’s fast forward to a week from now. Antonio Brown is no longer on the Steelers’ roster.

That’s OK, you say. JuJu Smith-Schuster led the Steelers in receptions and receiving yardage last season, anyway. He was, after all, the team MVP.

That’s all well and good. But Smith-Schuster was the Steelers’ No. 2 receiver. Smith-Schuster knew it. The Steelers knew it. And, most importantly, opposing teams knew it.

With Brown no longer around, Smith-Schuster will have to take on that mantle. That’s fine. He showed throughout 2018 that he’s capable of handling that kind of workload. Witness his 166 targets last season, only two fewer than Brown.

But is he capable of handling the extra attention he’ll receive from opposing teams? That’s where things can get tricky.

In the one game in which Smith-Schuster didn’t have Brown around to at least help even out the defensive attention – the regular-season finale against the Cincinnati Bengals – he managed just five catches for 37 yards on 10 targets. He did score, but it was obvious the added attention made things tough on the young receiver.

At just 22 years old – many of the receivers at last week’s NFL Scouting Combine were older – Smith-Schuster still has plenty of room for growth. He’s nowhere near a complete package. That offers some hope.

But who replaces Smith-Schuster as the No. 2 target?

James Washington will likely do so in name. But even though he often put on a show at training camp and sometimes in practice, asking Washington to go from his production last year (16 receptions for 217 yards) to being even a 60-catch guy would be quite a jump.

And the only other receiver on the roster with NFL experience once Brown is gone is Ryan Switzer. While he had 36 receptions last season, which was a nice surprise, his 7.0 yards per catch average doesn’t exactly scream No. 2 receiver.

Tight end Vance McDonald could actually be the player currently on the roster who benefits the most from Brown being traded.

McDonald is an excellent threat in the receiving game. He’s the most athletic tight end the Steelers have had on since Heath Miller circa 2012.

McDonald had 50 catches for 610 yards and four touchdowns last year. But he’s certainly capable of more. The issue, however, is that he’s also proven to be a guy who gets nicked up because of the devil-may-care attitude with which he plays the game. He goes looking for contact, and that can lend itself to injuries.

The idea for the Steelers will be to add a veteran receiver in free agency and then again in the draft.

Former Baltimore Ravens receiver John Brown would be the perfect deep-threat compliment to Smith-Schuster. The addition of Brown would allow the Steelers to play Smith-Schuster in the slot in three-receiver sets, with Washington joining Brown on the outside.

But he’s likely to be too expensive. The same goes for the Los Angeles Chargers’ Tyrell Williams.

Kansas City’s Chris Conley could be a nice add in that respect. He’ll be cheaper, and if Washington beats him out to play in the majority of two-receiver sets, so be it.

Same goes for guys such as Dontrelle Inman, Ryan Grant or Donte Moncrief, some of the other outside receivers available. Players such as Golden Tate or Adam Humphries don’t fit as well because they are slot receivers. And the Steelers have two of those in Smith-Schuster and Switzer.

There’s also the chance the Steelers’ veteran receiver is still on someone else’s roster. There will be players released as this offseason continues to unfold.

But there’s little doubt getting rid of Brown will open up a huge hole in the Steelers’ lineup.

• The Steelers thought they had a trade largely in place with the Bills late Thursday night that would have sent Brown to Buffalo.

They had even given Brown’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, permission to talk to the Bills about his client.

And that’s where things fell apart. Brown wanted nothing to do with playing in Buffalo and Rosenhaus informed the Bills of that.

Some would say that’s giving Brown too much control over this situation, but any team that is going to trade a high-round draft pick – or anything, for that matter – for a player is going to want assurances that player is, in fact, going to play.

• The Steelers made an interesting decision to go with Ramon Foster over Marcus Gilbert, especially since they weren’t leaning in that direction as late as just a couple of days ago per a source very close to the situation.

In the end, getting backing from Maurkice Pouncey and Ben Roethlisberger swayed the team’s decision to retain Foster, who was scheduled to hit free agency at 33 years old. It also helped that Foster took a less-than-market deal of just more than $4 million.

Some questioned the sixth-round draft pick the Steelers got in return for Gilbert, who had one year remaining on his contract. But sixth-round picks can be quite valuable in today’s NFL. In fact, those fifth-, sixth- and seventh-round picks seem to be the going rate to acquire veteran players.

• The Steelers won’t make any additional hires on their coaching staff this year, with both offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner and defensive coordinator Keith Butler serving in dual roles. Fichtner will again serve as quarterbacks coach while Butler will work with the outside linebackers.

Coaching the outside linebackers isn’t that big of a deal for Butler. The Steelers have people who can throw them passes and such when Butler is otherwise occupied.

But it seems to me that with two young quarterbacks on the roster behind Ben Roethlisberger, the Steelers would be better served having a full-time quarterbacks coach.

What better way to work on footwork and things like that with Josh Dobbs and Mason Rudolph on the side when things aren’t busy for them in practice?

• So, can the Steelers be better in 2019 without Brown on the roster? Considering they finished 2018 with nine wins, the bar is set pretty low, at least by Steelers standards.

Those thinking this team is going to be in some kind of rebuilding mode are way off base. After all, there aren’t many teams out there that have six returning Pro Bowl players. And that doesn’t even include Roethlisberger or cornerback Joe Haden, two players who have made the Pro Bowl in the past but did not last season.

The offensive line is still very good. Roethlisberger remains a top quarterback. And there is still enough weaponry on offense to be a dangerous team.

If the Steelers can add a couple of defensive playmakers they will be back in the mix in the AFC next season.