The Steelers have nine receivers on their roster and a notable one who no longer is part of the team.
The problem with the one who is no longer there is he happens to be a guy who set an NFL record last season when he went over 100 catches for a fifth-consecutive season.
Replacing that is no one-man job, as Donte Moncrief told me when I asked him about doing just that earlier this year.
"AB, like anybody knows, is one of the best or is the best to ever play this game. You can’t try to be what he was," Moncrief replied. "You can only be what you are. I’m going to play the role I can play, make the plays I can make and do whatever makes this team better.”
That's all well and good. But the Steelers do need to replace Antonio Brown's production or at least the threat of his production in their lineup in 2019, after sending the star receiver to the Raiders in a trade.
Somebody or, perhaps more correctly, several somebodies, will have to replace Brown.
In third-year pro JuJu Smith-Schuster, the Steelers feel they have an emerging star more than capable of being a No. 1 receiver. Smith-Schuster showed that last season when he hauled in 111 passes for 1,426 yards and seven touchdowns.
But finding someone to take the pressure off Smith-Schuster -- who admittedly benefitted from the attention Brown drew from opposing defenses -- will be critical to the team's success.
That's where the speedy Moncrief will help. And the Steelers expect 2018 second-round draft pick James Washington to take a big step forward after catching just 16 passes as a rookie.
But the fact remains the eight receivers currently on the Steelers' roster not named Smith-Schuster caught a combined 112 passes in 2018, just eight more than Brown himself had. And Ryan Switzer and Eli Rogers are strictly slot receivers.
The Steelers need to add another talented player to that group in the NFL Draft, which begins next Thursday.
In this draft, beauty will be in the eye of the beholder because there is no consensus on who the No. 1 receiving prospect might be, even this close to the draft. And there isn't a receiver expected to be taken in the first half of the first round.
Coming out of the NFL Scouting Combine at the end of February, many felt Mississippi's D.K. Metcalf might be that No. 1 guy after the 6-foot-3, 228-pound receiver ran a 4.33 40-yard dash, then benched pressed 228 pounds 27 times and showing off a 40.5-inch vertical jump.
But Metcalf's game tape at Ole Miss didn't match his athleticism, and he was at the bottom of all of the change-of-direction drills, showing he just might be a one-trick pony. That one trick is a good one -- deep speed coupled with outstanding size -- but he's just not a complete receiver. And to be taken high in the draft, he'd better be capable of being more than just a deep threat.
Metcalf also missed a large portion of last season with a neck injury that has caused his stock to drop with some teams.
Injury issues also plague one of the other top receivers in this draft, Oklahoma's Marquise Brown.
The cousin of Antonio Brown, Marquise Brown might be the most explosive receiver in this draft. But he's also just 5-foot-9, 168 pounds and has a Lisfranc injury that hasn't allowed him to run for anyone during the draft process.
Turn on the tape and you see Brown running past defenders on a regular basis. But his size is a definite issue.
"My speed, playmaking ability, my dynamic ability and explosiveness," Brown said when asked about his strengths and weaknesses. "I need to get stronger, and I’ll continue to get stronger. I’ve been taking the weight room seriously since I got to college, and that’s something I’ll continue to work on."
Brown and Metcalf get a lot of the attention as the possible top receivers in this draft, as does Arizona State's N'keal Harry.
At 6-foot-2, 228 pounds, Harry is a big, strong receiver who is at his best in traffic, winning much the same way Houston's Deandre Hopkins does. But part of the reason for that is because Harry's speed is just average.
Other receivers who could be taken in the first round include Iowa State's Hakeem Butler and Mississippi's A.J. Brown, who Chris Carter mentions as a potential target for the Steelers in his breakdown of this draft's running backs and receivers in this week's Classroom.
But unless a lot of defensive players are taken ahead of the Steelers' first-round pick at 20, they'll more likely look at adding a receiver in rounds 2 or 3.
Any of the aforementioned players would interest them in the second round, to be sure, as would a number of other players, including Ohio State's speedy Parris Campbell, Deebo Samuel of South Carolina or Emmanuel Hall of Missouri.
Samuel, at 5-foot-11, 214 pounds, has a similar build to Washington, but is a tick faster and is tough to bring down in the open field. He also has the size to play special teams, something that could very well be asked of him as a rookie.
"I was the kick returner for three years there, and gunner on punt and things like that," Samuel said. "I’m not only just a receiver, I’m a very versatile guy."
The Steelers also have two third round picks, including the second pick in the round, which was acquired as part of the Brown trade.
It might be poetic justice if they acquired Brown's eventual replacement with one of the picks acquired for him.
Terry McLaurin of Ohio State, Andy Isabella of Massachusetts, Jalen Hurd of Baylor, Stanford's JJ Arcega-Whiteside and Kelvin Harmon of North Carolina State would be nice fits in the third round.
Notre Dame's Miles Boykin, Stanley Morgan of Nebraska and Dionte Johnson of Toledo would be nice picks in the fourth or fifth rounds.
Johnson, like Brown, is an excellent route runner and has drawn some comparisons to Brown both because of his size (5-foot-10, 183 pounds) and the fact he also played in the MAC.
LOLLEY'S VIEW
I'm not as high on Metcalf and Marquise Brown as some others. In fact, I wouldn't take a receiver in the first round. There are too many guys available who can be had in rounds 2-4 that can come in and help.
I like both Ohio State receivers — Campbell and McLaurin — and what they bring to the game. The same goes for A.J. Brown and Samuel.
Keep an eye on Johnson. He's a guy who could actually go higher than I have him. I like him a lot, even though his size might keep some teams from taking him earlier based on the number of bigger receivers available.
