The Pittsburgh Steelers’ lack of quality wide receivers has haunted them for the past few seasons. While that position used to be one of their greatest strengths, they’ve struggled to field adequate depth there recently. However, they made an effort to change that this offseason, particularly by trading for Michael Pittman Jr. to pair alongside DK Metcalf. Pittman finally gives the Steelers a solid No. 2 wideout, but analyst Matt Harmon thinks he could be in for a big first season in Pittsburgh.
“Michael Pittman [Jr.], the odds should be pretty close to him straight-up outproducing DK Metcalf this year in Pittsburgh,” Harmon said recently on his YouTube channel. “What does that end up looking like for both of those guys? I think that would mean a pretty disappointing season for DK Metcalf and maybe a slightly better season than you would think for Michael Pittman…
“He’s just a perfect fit for Aaron Rodgers right now. We know that Rodgers wants to play the game in a very specific format. He wants to spread things out, do the point-and-shoot thing. He wants a lot of these free-access throws and get the ball out of his hands quickly. You look at Michael Pittman, he is still very good at being able to do that… Michael Pittman is a guy that could easily walk into 80 catches this year.”
The Steelers haven’t had a player post 80 or more catches in a season since 2022, when Diontae Johnson had 86 receptions. While much of the blame for that falls on their poor quarterbacking and inconsistent play calling, they also haven’t had a top possession receiver since trading Johnson.
George Pickens was their No. 1 after that, and he was more of a vertical threat. The same can be said about Metcalf. He’s only had more than 80 receptions in two of his seven NFL seasons. Pittman is different, though.
Pittman has recorded at least 80 receptions in four of his six NFL seasons. Much of that was with poor quarterback play, too. He spent his entire career with the Indianapolis Colts, and they’ve had almost as much quarterback dysfunction as the Steelers in that time. While they got 13 good games out of Daniel Jones last year, an injury shortened his season.
Still, Pittman finished 2025 with exactly 80 catches. Rodgers isn’t the same player that he once was, but that might work in Pittman’s favor. He’s good at being in the right place at the right time, and that might help him become the quarterback’s safety blanket.
Does that mean Pittman will outproduce Metcalf, though? Not necessarily. Metcalf is one of the Steelers’ few explosive playmakers on offense. Therefore, his receptions might be more impactful than Pittman’s, even if he has fewer total catches.
The important thing is that Pittman should be a nice complement to Metcalf. Too often, Metcalf received most of the attention from opposing defenses. Pittman’s presence could help free him up more. Both of them could be in for productive seasons.