Don't pretend wide receiver's just any need ... it's THE need

Look, let's not call anyone a liar here, all right?

But no, the Steelers haven't come close filling all their starting vacancies in advance of the NFL Draft that opens Thursday night, even if Mike Tomlin would insist at the team's annual pre-draft press conference at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex that their work in free agency "addressed a lot of needs, and you don't feel overly thirsty in any particular area."

Uh-huh. If Nate Herbig's snapping first-team reps to Russell Wilson at Saint Vincent, they'll be thirstier than if they'd trudged three months in the Sahara.

They've still got to seek out a center. Probably this weekend.

And while I'm at it, they've still got to seek out a wide receiver. Or two. Abso-posi-certain-lutely this weekend.

Unless anyone cares to take seriously this response from Tomlin when asked how he feels about the state of the wide receivers room and, within that, whether he sees George Pickens now ascending into a veteran/leadership role.

"First part of that, I'm comfortable with the trajectory of that room," he'd begin. "As we've mentioned, the guys come in ready-made. There's a lot of talent available to us, and a lot of those guys participate."

Meaning rookies right out of the draft.

"If you look at the kid from the Rams, he was really significant this past year and I think maybe it was a fifth-round pick."

Puka Nacua, of course. Fifth-rounder out of BYU. Pro Bowl selection after 105 catches, 1,468 yards and six touchdowns, then nine more catches in Los Angeles' lone playoff game.

Everyone wants a Puka now. And Tomlin makes it sound as if everyone's confident they can find one of their own.

"That's what's going on at that position," he'd proceed. "So, it makes us all comfortable, not just us, but us as a collective, the National Football League."

As for Pickens, he'd conclude this answer, "And certainly, we're really comfortable with the trajectory of George in terms of what he's going to be able to provide us as a player, not only in terms of playmaking, but what his experience within the room and within this organization provides us."

No, they most assuredly aren't. Respectfully. And they know that.

Again, it's not about lying. It's about that time of year where only those on a need-to-know basis will know anything of worth. And the rest of us are left, for the most part, to our mocks, our Mel Kiper imitators and whatever info we might be able to poke or pry out anyone.

Not much of that occurred here, to put it mildly. Nor should it. Both Tomlin and Omar Khan, particularly latter, played everything even closer to the vest than usual. And that's appropriate. This isn't a year where the citizens can put Najee Harris' No. 22 on pre-order at Fanatics. This isn't a year where the need at quarterback's so extreme that poor Malik Willis was being forecast by some to become an NFL starter. This isn't even a year like 2023, where, aside from Broderick Jones' name, it couldn't have been clearer that an offensive tackle would be called.

This is, by all accounting and reporting, including my own, a year in which Tomlin, Khan, Andy Weidl and all others in the Steelers' draft operation would love nothing more than to capitalize on a tackle-rich class and turn up Jones' decade-long bookend. To anchor the big, body-moving offense they're expected to utilize under Arthur Smith. To further set a foundation where all football foundations should be set.

Awesome. Go nuts. Take a tackle. Or a center, provided one of bona fide quality's there in the 20th slot.

But man, there'd best be a wagonload of wide receivers after that, as I see it. I'm talking second and third rounds.

For one, they'll be available. Every round, top to bottom.

At the very top, there'll be Marvin Harrison Jr. out of Ohio State, Malik Nabers out of LSU and Rome Odunze out of Washington, with Harrison and Nabers long gone by the Steelers' turn and Odunze close to that caliber. But bumping right against them Adonai Mitchell out of Texas, who might be as talented as any but with a bit more baggage in being a Type 1 diabetic who hasn't always shown the maturity needed to cope with that.

Hardly stops there, though. It'll be raining wide receivers right through the Saturday rounds, running as deep as 25 plug-and-play types. An extraordinary class even by recent trendlines that make this now common.

I asked Tomlin about that trend.

"I think it's the nature and the development of the game," he'd reply. "I think everybody plays with three receivers and five defensive backs at this stage of the game now. I also think it's, you know, the development of seven-on-seven football at the lower levels in high school, where it's becoming more of a year-round endeavor. And so, the people that are involved in seven-on-seven have an opportunity to have a higher level of skill relative to their positions than the people who don't."

I'll press pause to elaborate on that: High school players now routinely engage in seven-on-seven programs that'll advance them beyond, say, that of a lineman or linebacker, who need all-out, punch-em-in-the-mouth football to best illustrate what they can do. And from there, colleges adjust their offenses accordingly and, to boot, defenses do likewise, leading to a similar spurt in cornerbacks.

"I think it's played out not only in this draft, but you know, those preceding this draft in recent years," Tomlin continued. "You just really see the impact in the development of high school seven-on-seven."

And amid this, the Steelers are left with ... one affirmed starter in the current room. Which won't work no matter how much bulldozing lines the pages of the Smith playbook. It's 2024, and a whole lotta someones have to run routes.

I'm anything but a Pickens basher. He's had his issues, most of those rooted in a personality that's still a far better fit for parental guidance than it is for leading a pack of professionals at an important position. If he's ever going to unearth his inner Allen Robinson and lead, I'd bet every penny he makes it won't happen in the fall of 2024.

What's more, he's not Diontae Johnson. That's not a knock. They're different players. And that's why, the moment Johnson was discarded to the Panthers as part of the NFL's hostages-for-volunteers exchange program, this rocketed to the top of my worries.

Who'd be that possession receiver now?

Who'd run routes as Johnson did?

Who'd be able to line up almost anywhere?

Regardless of any justifiable cynicism regarding Johnson's results, that player's not here. At all. I admire Calvin Austin as much as anyone in that locker room, but he's not that yet, if he'll ever be. Doesn't present the same target and, most disappointing within his first non-injury NFL season, he was never all-the-way able to convert his world-class speed into the anticipated yards after the catch. One touch, and he was down.

Van Jefferson and Quez Watkins are No. 4 on a healthy depth chart, and I won't waste anyone's time delving into them.

It'd make no sense acquiring a Russell Wilson, only to strip him of the tools he needs. Similarly, it'd make no sense to try to squeeze something from the remaining free agents, who now range from Ray-Ray McLoud to Steven Sims to a slew of thirty-somethings. A trade seems the most attractive option, but only if Khan's prepared to offer a mint in return.

Not that he was showing hand.

"It's no different than any of the other positions," he'd reply when asked about the current corps wide receivers. "Really, the competition, it's important to us, and any chance there's an opportunity to upgrade a room, we're going to look into it. But it's a good receiver group, so we're optimistic about the opportunities."

They aren't.

Draft one. Draft two. Heck, rev up the DeLorean and draft Puka himself, then ask if he's got any brothers.

• Here are Chris Halicke's six picks for No. 20.

• Here's our news coverage of the session.

• Here's a complete transcript. Every syllable spoken.

• Thanks for reading.

• And for listening: