Omar Khan encouraged by WR room development

Despite concerns from the outside, Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan was impressed with what he saw from the receiving corps during the offseason program. He likes the trajectory of the group.

“We just finished minicamp and I was talking to Coach T and a few other guys in my department, and we were just saying how good we felt in that room,” Khan said during an appearance on 93.7 The Fan. “Just the growth from when the offseason program started to where we are now. Even the improvements from the beginning of OTAs to today are truly impressive to see.

“We love the group. We really, really do it. And they work hard. It was an important OTA and minicamp for us. I have a lot of new faces on offense and I’ve just seen how they fit together, how they work, and I can just tell you the trend is really positive. It was great.”

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Calvin Austin III during minicamp on June 11, 2024. – Ed Thompson / Steelers Now

A trade could still come to fruition for a top receiver down the road. But, for now, the Steelers seem to be feeling really good about their expansive receiver room. Offensive coordinator Arthur Smith and receiver Zach Azzanni had statements similar to Khan’s.

“Every year it changes. If you talk about history, if you just play static and still and you were spread out and you had wide receiver one, wide receiver two, wide receiver three, things change from year to year,” Smith said in an interview with Missi Matthews of Steelers.com when asked if he needed a No. 2 wide receiver. “We see it every year in this league. Guys who could be a fifth round pick end up being Rookie of the Year. The guys have another opportunity, they step up. It’s constantly changing. And then unfortunately, guys get injured, you have to have depth. You work on all these contingency plans up and down the offense.

Azzanni even thinks the digital wide receiver tagging system is overrated.

“The competition was great. That’s kind of what I mean when I say these guys are at different points in their careers. I know that we do a lot of things from one, two, three. Look, these days we move everyone around and guys get balls depending on the matchup. This numbers thing is a little overrated for me,” Azzanni said.

Van Jefferson, Quez Watkins, Calvin Austin III, Roman Wilson and Scotty Miller are competing for the next four spots on the depth chart, both at outside receiver and in the slot. Wilson and Austin could step up and rise to the occasion this year. Austin looked impressive during the Steelers offseason program.

Nick Farabaugh contributed reporting from Pittsburgh.