James Washington explains Steelers' drops; JuJu Smith-Schuster's thoughts on WR routes

James Washington is one of the few Steelers wide receivers worthy of praise in recent games.

The third-year Oklahoma State product caught a clutch pass from Ben Roethlisberger late in the victory over the Baltimore Ravens on Dec. 2. He caught two passes for 80 yards including a touchdown in the loss to the Washington Football Team on Monday evening. And he has largely avoided the drop epidemic that has plagued the franchise over the past two weeks.

And when he was asked about all the drops surrounding the wideouts, Washington may have given the best explanation as to why they seem to be occurring so often.

“I think a lot of us are thinking about our next move instead of catching the ball first,” Washington said.

That may sound like a typical receiver trope whenever drops become an issue — blame it on running before you catch it.

Like a hitter in a slump pointing at his timing. Or a pitcher having control problems fixating on his mechanics. Or a basketball player talking about making sure he’s getting his legs into his jump shot.

A generic catch-all to explain away a larger problem.

But in the case of the Steelers receivers, that old truism may be more true than even Washington realized. So much of the team’s passing game is predicated on short passes in front of the sticks that the “run” part in “catch-and-run” is superseding the “catch” part.

Can you blame ‘em?

Actually, you can. Catch the ball first. That’s the most important part of the job.

That said, there was truth in Washington’s explanation.

One complaint from Steelers fans — and justifiably so — is that of the 104 passes Roethlisberger has thrown over the last two games, far too many were short of the first-down marker. Even if the receivers didn’t drop 15 of them (by a conservative count), many of the plays wouldn’t have yielded the necessary yardage to stay on the field.

Unless, of course, the receivers got a lot of yards after the catch. So no wonder that’s seeping into the receivers’ heads. I mean, how many times have we heard offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner use the phrase “catch short to run long” when describing receivers who fit well into the Steelers offense?

However, when the patterns are run beyond the yard to gain, the receivers know their job is done after they secure the football. At least, at that point, the first down is attained once the ball is tucked away. Any extra yardage beyond that is gravy.

Fichtner was a little more generic in his description of the drop issue Thursday.

“Somewhere lost in this is a little bit of concentration because they are all skillful enough to make magnificent catches,” Fichtner said. “I think we talk about, ‘Does he catch it because of hand placement or his eyes? He didn’t follow it in? Or he has just dropped balls that he has never dropped before out of not concentrating?’

“I believe it is somewhere in between. It’s concentration probably (that leads to) more drops. That means focus. That means preparedness.”

Fellow receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster sounds like he’s on Washington’s page.

“People are trying to make a play before it happens,” Smith-Schuster said Wednesday. “A lot of times, you’ll see a guy try to run before catching the ball and try to get up field. It’s very simple. These are easy passes. Nothing too crazy.”

And for his part, it certainly sounds as if Smith-Schuster would like to see the route tree extended.

“Ideally, I’ve always felt like I can run downfield on those deep passes,” he said. “Compared to last year or two years ago, the route tree I was running was a lot different. Playing inside and outside. This year, everything is a lot shorter. But whatever they put in front of me, that’s what I’m here to do.”

That may be Smith-Schuster attempting to be politically correct. But he’s right, and not just from his own point of view but for all the receivers. Something needs to change when it comes to this passing game because it’s become too easy to defend.

And, apparently, too hard for the receivers and the quarterback to execute, “easy” though the passes may be.

Listen: Tim Benz previews the Steelers-Bills game with WGR Radio host and Buffalo Bills sideline reporter Sal Cappacio