Wide receivers: Calvin Austin III, DK Metcalf, Scotty Miller, Ben Skowronek, Adam Thielen, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Roman Wilson.
The focus with the wide receivers has quickly transitioned from what they produced in 2025 to what will be desired from the position moving forward thanks to some first-day insight provided by new head coach Mike McCarthy.
"As far as the receiver position as a whole, we were at our best in Green Bay, the Jordy Nelson era, because all those guys worked so well together," McCarthy explained at his introductory press conference.
Nelson played for Packers teams coached by McCarthy and quarterbacked by Aaron Rodgers from 2008 through 2017. Nelson caught 45 passes for 582 receiving yards and two touchdowns for Green Bay's Super Bowl team in 2010. Between 2011 and 2016, Nelson surpassed 1,200 yards receiving four times in five seasons (he didn't play in 2015) and registered at least 13 receiving touchdowns three times.
In 2016 Nelson, 6-foot-3 and 217 pounds, was named the Associated Press NFL Comeback Player of the Year.
"You know, this game is about match-ups," McCarthy continued. "Your ability to put your third receiver on the third corner, hopefully, that's a favorable match-up, or move those guys around.
"You want your receivers to be able to play all three positions. Your perimeter guys being able to play multiple positions is very important."
The state of the wide receiver group was such in 2025 that veterans Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Adam Thielen were added in-season (Valdes-Scantling was signed to the practice squad on Nov. 4 and Thielen was claimed off waivers on Dec. 2) and both wound up starting games by season's end (Thielen three times and Valdes-Scantling once).
The pair combined for 21 catches, 197 receiving yards and one touchdown.
Thielen announced his retirement after 13 NFL seasons on Jan. 15.
DK Metcalf's first season with the Steelers was at times spectacular but also inconsistent from a production standpoint. He had five catches for 126 yards, including a combustible, 80-yard catch-and-run touchdown on Sept. 28 against Minnesota and seven receptions for 148 yards on Dec. 7 against Baltimore, but those were the only two games in which Metcalf surpassed 100 yards receiving. Metcalf had 55 or fewer receiving yards 11 times in 15 games and finished the regular season serving a two-game suspension for his involvement in an interaction with a fan during the Steelers' 29-24 win on Dec. 21 at Detroit.
Metcalf's 59 catches surpassed only the 58 he caught as a rookie with Seattle in 2019. His 850 receiving yards was a career-low total for his seven-year career.
Calvin Austin III's numbers dropped from 2024 to 2025 in games played (17-14), catches (36-31), receiving yards (548-372) and touchdown receptions (four to three). But Austin made his touchdowns count. The first gave the Steelers a 31-26, fourth-quarter lead on Sept.7 against the Jets (along the way to a 34-32 victory). The second broke a 14-14 tie with 2:16 left in regulation in what became a 21-14 win on Sept. 21 at New England. And the third wound up as the game-winning touchdown with 55 seconds left in a 26-24 decision of Baltimore in the regular-season finale on Jan. 4 that delivered the Steelers the AFC North Division championship.
Roman Wilson missed all but one game of his rookie season in 2024 due to injury.
He appeared in 13 games in 2025 and finished with 12 catches for 166 yards and two touchdowns. But Wilson was designated inactive for the regular-season final against the Ravens and for the Steelers' 30-6 loss to the Texans in the playoffs despite being healthy.
Ben Skowronek caught the first touchdown pass of the season in the opener against the Jets and three passes thereafter, and took over as special teams captain after safety Miles Killebrew was lost for the season due to injury.
Scotty Miller, like Skowronek, continued to bolster his reputation for providing reliability and professionalism in a variety of roles at wide receiver and in the kicking game when called upon.
