Through four weeks, the Steelers’ receiver room has gone from a project to a problem.
Pittsburgh spent another offseason trying to fix the position, but the results have been rough. There’s been the occasional splash play, yet nobody is separating with any consistency, and Aaron Rodgers has not been able to fully capitalize when opportunities have appeared.
DK Metcalf has struggled, Roman Wilson has been up and down, Germie Bernard hasn’t had much of a chance to make an impact, and Michael Pittman Jr. has been a complete non-factor. For a team that needs more juice, the answer may be outside the building.
Quentin Johnston is one name that fits.
He never quite became the early first-round star some expected, but he has still carved out value as a solid secondary target who can win downfield. Over the past two seasons, he posted more than 700 receiving yards and eight touchdowns in each year.
This season has been different. In Mike McDaniel’s offense, Johnston has become an afterthought, catching seven passes for just over 100 yards in four games.
With the Chargers struggling and a possible roster overhaul looming after the season, he looks like a player who needs a fresh start. Even with his fifth-year option picked up, his contract would be manageable if Pittsburgh decided to keep him beyond this year.
Tyreek Hill is another possibility, and his appeal is obvious for a Steelers offense that can’t separate, create after the catch, or stretch the field.
Hill is getting healthy again, and even if his speed and athleticism have started to fade with age, there’s still plenty left in the tank. He can line up anywhere and hurt defenses in multiple ways.
The catch is obvious: he hasn’t played in a while, and he’d need time to ramp back up and get into game shape. But if he gets there, he could be a strong complementary piece.
He also wouldn’t cost a draft pick, which makes the risk easier to stomach for a team that needs to try something.
Brian Thomas Jr. might be the most intriguing name of the three.
As a rookie, he burst onto the scene and looked like a dynamic playmaker with Rookie of the Year buzz. Then Liam Coen took over, and the fit never seemed right.
Now Thomas has just nine catches through four games and looks like an afterthought, even with Parker Washington taking on a bigger role. Like Johnston, he appears to be stuck in an offense where he isn’t being used to his strengths.
Pittsburgh could change that. The quarterback play would have to improve, but Thomas could help drive that improvement too.
In the Steelers’ system, he would likely get plenty of chances and could give Metcalf a dangerous running mate. The long-term control is part of the appeal as well: Thomas is only entering his third year, giving the Steelers at least two seasons to evaluate him before the fifth-year option comes into play.
There’s no guarantee he gets back to form, but among receivers who could actually be available, he stands out. The Steelers should be asking.
In Other News...
BYU Just Picked Up A Backfield Concern TCU Fans Will Notice
BYUs backfield took a hit this week, and it is the kind of development TCU fans will file away when looking ahead on the schedule. Running back LJ Martin is expected to miss four to six weeks because of a lower-body injury, according to ESPNs Pete Thamel, and that leaves the Cougars without one of their most reliable contributors as they move deeper into the season.
For BYU, the timing matters because Martins absence will ripple through several upcoming games and force the staff to reshuffle touches in a hurry. Freshman Journee Tonga is expected to see a bigger workload during Martins recovery, which adds another layer of uncertainty to a position group TCU will be watching closely if the teams meet with the Cougars still adjusting on offense. [Read more 🡒]
TCU Women Already Have A Big 12 Doubt To Answer
TCU womens basketball enters the 2026-27 season with a strong bit of respect already attached to it, even if the leagues coaches stopped short of putting the Horned Frogs at the top. In the Big 12 preseason poll, TCU landed second behind Oklahoma State, a tight result that says plenty about how the league views the Frogs after a strong enough offseason impression to keep them near the front of the conversation.
The individual honors followed the same theme. Center Clara Silva earned a place on the preseason All-Big 12 team, while guard Jessie-May Hall was voted preseason Freshman of the Year, giving TCU a mix of proven talent and fresh buzz before the games even begin. For a team already carrying expectations, the bigger question is no longer whether it belongs in the upper tier, but how quickly it can turn those votes into something more tangible once the season starts. [Read more 🡒]
TCUs Bye Week Comes With One Big 12 Result To Watch
A bye week can feel like a reset button, and for TCU it comes at a useful moment after consecutive Big 12 losses. With no game on the schedule, the Horned Frogs get a chance to regroup, sort out what has gone wrong in conference play and watch the rest of the league sort itself out around them before their next Big 12 test.
The weekend still matters in Fort Worth because the standings will keep moving, and the KillerFrogs staff is tracking a slate of conference matchups that could shape the stretch run. Their previews and picks highlight where opinions line up and where they split, making this a timely snapshot of how the league looks while TCU waits to see which result may matter most. [Read more 🡒]