When you have a flaw on a middling team, you either are forced to address it or tear it down and rebuild. Since the latter isn’t ever in the cards under Mike Tomlin, the Pittsburgh Steelers have opted to build this plane while flying it by adding DK Metcalf, thus providing a direct solution to what has been their biggest weakness over the past four seasons.
DK Metcalf’s Impact on the Pittsburgh Steelers
Remember when Tiger Woods was in his prime and the scoreboards simply didn’t look real on Sunday afternoons? That’s kind of what the end-zone target hierarchy looks like since 2019 after Pete Carroll took off his shirt and embraced drafting the physical specimen that is Metcalf.
End-Zone Targets Since 2019:
- Metcalf: 104
- Mike Evans: 91
- Davante Adams: 81
- Tyler Lockett: 70
- Stefon Diggs: 69
The 6’4” 235-pound athlete is obviously a good fit for any offense (900+ yards in each of his six NFL seasons, averaging 14.4 yards per catch in the process), but he’s an interesting add for a Steelers attack that has been grounded in recent years.
TRADE: Seahawks trading DK Metcalf to the Steelers for a 2025 second-round pick.
Metcalf is signing a five-year, $150 million contract with Pittsburgh. (via @tompelissero, @rapsheet) pic.twitter.com/fefRvz59Ud
— NFL (@NFL) March 9, 2025
Since 2021, Pittsburgh is 24th in overall dropback rate, a ranking that falls to 29th if you only include snaps taken when the game is within a single score. And who could blame them? The quarterback talent has been sporadic at best and the receiver play inconsistent. This move should give the coaches more confidence in calling plays, but more importantly, in finishing drives.
Only the New England Patriots, Dallas Cowboys, and New York Giants were worse at converting red-zone trips into touchdowns last season (Steelers: 48.2%; NFL average: 57.6%), but any team can struggle for the small sample size that is a single season.
Lowest End-Zone CMP% Since 2021:
- 28) New York Giants: 29.6%
- 29) Jacksonville Jaguars: 29.5%
- 30) Cleveland Browns: 28.7%
- 31) Chicago Bears: 27.6%
- 32) Pittsburgh Steelers: 25%
Scoring touchdowns has been a problem, and the Steelers took a big step forward in addressing that by acquiring the 27-year-old Metcalf.
Of course, there is a crossover of skill sets alongside George Pickens, but this is a stable enough organization to give them the benefit of the doubt on that front. Pittsburgh’s now-former WR1 caught just 57.3% of his targets in 2024 due in large part to a lack of support (Calvin Austin III was the only other receiver in Pittsburgh to reach 300 receiving yards).
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The NFL is trending toward a shallow passing attack as defenses are increasingly looking to take away splash plays, but with two dangerous downfield threats (see the Cincinnati Bengals), Pittsburgh’s offense now profiles as one with rare upside by way of their receivers.
They were our 25th ranked unit per PFSN’s Offense+ metric, ranking them below the five-win Carolina Panthers; expectations should be for them to trend closer to, if not above, the league average in rather short order.
It’s easy to forget that Pittsburgh won eight of 10 games to open 2024. Expectations are always high for this team as they are always in the playoff mix — this move makes another double-digit-win season very possible. Now all they have to do is decide who is going to be pulling the trigger on those passes.