THE PROBLEM AT WIDEOUT

Here's an excerpt from my latest TribLive.com column:

The Steelers went the entirety of the 2024 season without a No. 2 wide receiver. They traded Diontae Johnson without a Plan B, then never fixed it.

Lots of good receivers got traded during the season: Davante Adams, Amari Cooper and DeAndre Hopkins. None went for higher than a third-round pick.

Instead, the Steelers got Mike Williams from the New York Jets and barely used him. They suffered at that spot all year. GM Omar Khan struck out.

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Playing the whole 2024 season without a No. 2 wideout is the most egregious example of mismanagement in a Steelers season fraught with examples thereof.

Calvin Austin III needs a stepladder to be better than a slot receiver.

Van Jefferson barely belongs in the NFL.

TE Pat Freiermuth was supposed to make up the difference. He didn't.

The Steelers liked Williams enough to give up a fifth-round pick to get him, then stopped liking him. In nine games, Williams had nine receptions for 132 yards and a touchdown. Chump change.

Lack of weaponry crippled Russell Wilson at quarterback. Wilson struggled, to be sure, not least down the stretch when the Steelers lost their last five games. But the Steelers had the worst group of wideouts in the NFL.

Will the Steelers have better at WR next season?

There's certainly no guarantee.

Not when WR1 George Pickens is a chronically tardy nutjob who might get traded despite being the Steelers' only playmaker.

Not when owner Art Rooney II thinks that "running the ball is a route to success, particularly when you're playing in the north and outside."