Tim Benz: Ripple effect of Steelers going with a WR or RB early in draft

What I’m about to give you is just my anecdotal observation. It’s far from scientific data.

That being said, considering what we’ve learned over the last two months, we all tend to pick and choose scientific data based on the numbers we prefer to believe anyway.

So let’s stick with the generic phrase “from what I can tell.”

Based on the amount of pre-draft articles, sports-talk air time, and Twitter traffic I’ve encountered, “from what I can tell,” lots of Steelers fans are quite interested in the idea of their team taking either a running back or a wide receiver with their first pick of the NFL Draft. That’s at No. 49 overall.

Some would like their second pick (No. 102) to be used on the remaining position of those two options as well.

Here’s as close as I’m going to get to scientific polling to prove my point.

Reposted--This is broad, but just in terms of addressing presumed positions of need, assume the Steelers hold at #49 (Rd 2) and #102 (Rd 3).No specific names here, I'm just going to say with their 1st two picks the Steelers get both a WR&RB (in either order),what's your reaction?

— Tim Benz (@TimBenzPGH) April 20, 2020

Between the first three options on the poll, at the time of this post, roughly 90% of fans who responded would prefer that the Steelers use at least one of their first two picks at either wide receiver or running back.

I agree.

If the team fails to add talent at one of those two positions, there could be some logic behind the strategy. After all, there is a great need for depth at outside linebacker. It would also be nice to have a “starter-in-waiting” for 2021 somewhere along the offensive line.

But, like most of you who voted, I would prefer that they target at least one of those two spots.

Such a move comes at a price, though. Either …

1.) A significant Steelers contributor at one of those positions is going to be traded or demoted as a result of an important draft pick coming on board.

Or

2.) That draft choice could be in a holding pattern for a year and may not be a major factor until 2021.

Unless injury plays a role. Looking at how things went for both James Conner and JuJu Smith-Schuster last year, I suppose that’s partially why we are talking about these topics in the first place.

The path would be more clear for a second-round or third-round running back to make an impact this year. Conner has missed 11 full games over his first three seasons. That’s not to mention other contests — such as four last year — when he left early due to various injuries.

His frequent absence was a big reason why the Steelers finished 28th in the league in rushing (90.4 yards per game).

“(Conner) is still a young, ascending player,” Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert insisted. “When healthy, he is still an NFL Pro Bowl player. That’s a hope. James will enter the season healthy. Can we complement it? We’ll see. But we aren’t entering the season thinking that we don’t have a starter because I know James Conner is.”

Yet, if Conner can’t shake the injury bug, playing time could be had for a new prospect at the position.

The bigger issue is, until or unless that happens, whose job is taken away by “Rookie RB X”? Are the Steelers ready to cut, trade or scratch that player on game day?

Jaylen Samuels has proven useful as a pass-catcher and multi-function player out of the backfield. Trey Edmunds is a good special teams player, and the Steelers have already lost a few of those this offseason. Kerrith Whyte showed some speed and kick return ability.

What then becomes of Benny Snell? Was he just a one-year write-off as a fourth-round pick after showing potential?

Even with the expanded roster rules, dressing six running backs is a lot. As a result, somebody — if not two people — from that position group may have to be moved if the Steelers use second-round or third-round currency on a running back.

Therefore, that back better be the right guy. And he better be able to contribute as both a pass-catcher and potentially a returner as well.

“If we get the opportunity to add a back that can bring some things to our current pool then we’ll be excited,” head coach Mike Tomlin said. “We have every intention of running the ball better in 2020 than we did in 2019, whether we add that back or not.”

It’s a similar story at wide receiver, where the talent in this draft seems pretty deep.

“It’s a nice group,” Colbert said. “I feel (as) good about that position from an evaluation standpoint as I do any other.”

That’s great. I just wonder who sees their targets drop if someone of that caliber is taken by Colbert. Is it Diontae Johnson? Last year’s third-round pick led the team in targets (92) and catches (59).

James Washington? The 2018 second-round pick showed improvement in his second season (team-leading 735 receiving yards) despite having two backup quarterbacks throwing him the football.

Or Smith-Schuster? On one hand, dropping the ball and fumbling it after securing catches has been an issue for Smith-Schuster going back to December 2018.

Optimists insist he’ll do better at elevating to a top-tier wide receiver in his second attempt to do so in the post-Antonio Brown era. Health for himself and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will go a long way toward that end.

Deon Cain seemed capable as a fourth wide receiver on game days, to say nothing of tight ends Vance McDonald and Eric Ebron.

So a 49th-pick wide receiver may not start on the depth chart as anything better than the fifth receiving option. That’s especially true if you are in the “Big Ben will make everyone better” camp. Maybe adding to the skill positions is roster redundancy.

“I’m always interested in adding talent to our team, particularly with this wide receiver pool,” Tomlin said. “These guys are coming in with a level of preparedness that allows them to maybe ascend and be helpful to us at an early stage.”

There is a practicality to having potential successors on the roster even if they don’t play a ton this fall. Conner and Smith-Schuster are both scheduled to be free agents after 2020.

However — with the first-round pick previously spent to acquire Minkah Fitzpatrick via trade in September — it sure would be nice if the 8-8 Steelers got some sort of boost from their second-round and third-round selections.

My bet? You’ll see the Steelers get one of these two positions in Round 2. Then you’ll see a linebacker or offensive lineman taken in Round 3. And the offensive position not addressed might get some cursory competition thrown its way somewhere on Day 3 of the draft.

Then, after the draft is over, you’ll hear Tomlin and Colbert talk about how great the players currently on the roster are at both wide receiver and running back.

And how we’ll see that when #7 is back under center.

Unless they really do draft a quarterback. Then forget everything you read here.

I know I won’t remember writing it.