For the first time in three seasons, the Pittsburgh Steelers have a gaping hole at the slot wide receiver position.
The losses of JuJu Smith-Schuster and Ray-Ray McCloud significantly impacted the Steelers’ depth chart at the slot receiver position, which has been used heavily in recent seasons for the black and gold, from the changes at offensive coordinator with Todd Haley to Randy Fichtner, on to current offensive coordinator Matt Canada.
Though the losses of Smith-Schuster and McCloud certainly sting due to the talent and reliability the two brought, especially in 2021, the Steelers appear poised to at least transition quickly at the position with third-year receiver Chase Claypool likely sliding inside more in 2022, along with rookie draft picks George Pickens and Calvin Austin III, not to mention veterans Anthony Miller and Steven Sims, who will fight for roles in training camp.