Is The Grass Greener On The Other Side?

What is it with wide receivers when they either get traded from or they leave Pittsburgh in free agency? Mike Wallace, Antonio Brown, JuJu Schuster, Chase Claypool and Diontae Johnson (so far) all of their careers have gone down in stats and in how much they get talked about after joining a new team. Mike Wallace was a pro bowler with the Steelers in 2011. And in two out of the four years he was with Pittsburgh, he had 1,000+ catching yards. From 2013-2018 he has been on the Dolphins, Vikings, Ravens and Eagles. Never went to another pro bowl or had another 1,000+ yard season. To me AB was the best receiver in the league from 2015-2018. He did win a championship with the Bucs in 2020. But he was like the fourth target option that season. JuJu won a championship with the Chiefs in 2022, but he never really duplicated what he was with the Steelers. Chase Claypool stats have dropped so bad from his first two seasons with the Steelers compared to his time with the Bears and Dolphins. In the past three years, he has been on three different teams and got released by the Bills before the 2024 season. And he is still currently a free agent. Diontae Johnson has been on 4 teams in 2024 calendar year. And has been on three teams in the 2024 season. He got traded by the Panthers to the Ravens. They released him. Then he got signed by the Texans. They released him. What is going on? Is it the Steelers system that are making these guys look better than they actually are. Or are these players holding themselves back on other teams once they are no longer on the Steelers?

 

No more BigBen throwing the ball to them.

 

Yeah Mahomes and Brady can’t hold Ben’s jockstrap

 

What more proof do you need?

 

That answer is more complex, you can even look at others from the past and not so distant past. Emanual Saunders is probably the one guy who benefitted the most from getting out of here. Some others who were number 2 or lower benefitted from having a good QB and having great WR around them, had decent to outstanding stats in certain limited areas, but were really not number 1 guys and never made that impact on other teams. Some guys flamed out by attitude or substance abuse, who had talent beyond normal measure.

There was a time when we drafted outstanding WR talent, even at a measure where they just fit in a scheme..The last grouping was probably the year where we had 3 WR who had 800 yards each receiving, Ju Ju 's injuries and immaturity, Claypool some of the same, and AB we know about. The line and Ben getting older, losing the WR coach to death at the beginning of the year with a young squad, and never replacing with a quality coach (and lousy Offense all around) are the primary reasons right now.

 

I wish all the wide receivers had the attitude and played like Lynn Swann, John Stallworth, Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes. They played the game the right way. Mike Wallace was a one trick pony. Antonio Brown was an egomaniac and George Pickens. Well I really don’t know how he will end up but it will probably be with several other teams and they will deal with his weirdness.

 

I believe it is @Rollers house