Tim Benz: Steelers won't try to draft Antonio Brown's replacement

The Steelers likely won’t replace Antonio Brown in this week’s NFL Draft.

Let’s be honest. They likely won’t ever replace him.

Brown’s legacy may be muddled by the way that he left — the blonde-mustached, Twitter-ranting, “Mr. Big Chest.” But during his time in Pittsburgh, he was “Mr. Big Game.” His 86.2 yards per game is the record among Steelers receivers.

He is second behind Hines Ward in receptions (1,000 to 837), receiving yards (12,083 to 11,207), and receiving touchdowns (85 to 74). Brown played in 87 fewer games than Ward. To say Brown was the Steelers’ most productive wide receiver in franchise history is no exaggeration.

Most fans in Pittsburgh are thrilled to be free of Brown’s antics and personality. Few have an answer as to how his production can be replaced.

Don’t expect one by Saturday night.

Even though the NFL’s three-day-long annual selection process starts Thursday, it’s unlikely the Steelers will attempt to offset Brown’s departure to Oakland, via a forced trade, with a high-round draft choice.

There are several reasons Steelers fans will have to wait to see the heir apparent to Brown drafted.

First of all, the hope is this team may already have that guy in-house in JuJu Smith-Schuster. In his second season in Pittsburgh, Smith-Schuster was a Pro Bowl receiver, with more catches and yards than Brown. But questions remain as to whether he can put up similar stats as he morphs into a player defenses scheme to stop, as opposed to being a complement to Brown’s role as top threat.

Smith-Schuster will have to be even better than the 84 catches, 1,171 yards and seven touchdowns he has averaged his first two seasons.

That’s asking a lot.

Secondly, he’s just two years removed from being a second-round pick, followed by fellow receiver James Washington being a second-round pick last year.

So the franchise has already put a lot of recent draft capital into receivers the past two years. Hence, general manager Kevin Colbert and head coach Mike Tomlin may want to spend first- and second-round selections elsewhere in 2019.

Specifically on defense.

Then there’s the reality that this year’s draft may not have a top-20 talent on the board at wide receiver. I’ve seen multiple mock drafts that don’t have the top wide receiver going until after the Steelers pick at No. 20.

During Monday’s annual pre-draft news conference, Colbert reiterated a common belief that this year’s receiver crop has some quality second- and third-day depth, but not much elite talent up top.

“It’s a deep class,” Colbert said. “I can’t say that it is elite like it has been in the past where I think you could identify one guy as the top guy. If you polled 32 teams, you’d get variations on who they have as their top guy because it’s not a universal class with two or three elite players.”

Also, former Jacksonville pass-catcher Donte Moncrief was signed in free agency. And the organization kept both Eli Rogers and Ryan Switzer. Therefore, it appears the hope is that strength in numbers — and experience for Washington — can patch things over with Brown playing out in California.

“I’m comfortable with the guys that we have in the room at this juncture,” Tomlin said. “We’ve got some guys that need to be ascending — specifically James Washington.

“We expect great things from James Washington, among others. And we are excited to watch those guys stand and deliver.”

Keep in mind as well: The Steelers have a good track record when it comes to drafting receivers in the mid-to-late rounds of the draft. Guys such as Ward (third), Brown (sixth), Mike Wallace (third), Martavis Bryant (fourth) and Emmanuel Sanders (third) were selected in the third round or later.

“We’ve had some good fortune with receivers,” Colbert said. “It’s really no different than how we evaluate other positions. I do like to mention they’ve played with a Hall of Fame-capable quarterback.”

Yeah. That’s true. Those players did all catch balls from either Byron Leftwich or Landry Jones. That can’t be forgotten.

I mean, that is who Colbert is talking about there, right?

But the next A.B. might have to come with an A.B. kind of NFL biography — a late-round afterthought who blossoms out of nowhere.

And, depending on readiness, that NFL bio may not begin until the 2020 Draft.

Let’s hope that future biography doesn’t include anything about Facebook Live, flying water coolers and furniture, skipped practices, temper tantrums and rogue absences.

That said, I’d allow for an occasional colorful mustache and training-camp helicopter arrival if some future late-round pick replaces some of the A.B.’s productivity.