Louis Riddick compares new-look Steelers WR room to basketball team

Steelers general manager Omar Khan had spent a lot of time trying to bring another wide receiver to Pittsburgh. According to Adam Schefter, the Steelers had pursued Brandon Aiyuk before he signed an extension with San Francisco, Davante Adams before he wound up with the Jets, Christian Kirk before he broke his collarbone and all the way back to March had scheduled a visit with Mike Williams before he signed a one-year deal in New York.

But on Tuesday, Khan’s hard work finally paid off in landing Williams from the Jets for a fifth-round selection just before the NFL’s trade deadline. While it wasn’t Pittsburgh’s only trade Tuesday – the Steelers (6-2) also sent a seventh-round choice to Green Bay for linebacker Preston Smith – it was the most notable. It also gave George Pickens and the Steelers a shooting guard, some power forwards and a big man, ESPN’s Louis Riddick said Tuesday. And the 6-foot-4, 218-pound Williams is a perfect fit.

“When you think of basketball of yesteryear and how positions were put together,” Riddick said on Tuesday’s SportsCenter special, “that’s how I look at wide-receiver rooms. He’s perfect in this wide-receiver room. Mike (as a deep threat), George right in the middle, Calvin Austin doing his work underneath, still can rip you down the field. It’s perfect. You’ve got a guy for every kind of situation now. If you’ve ever seen Mike Williams up close and in person, he’s one of the most impressive physical specimens you’ll see. The dude is put together. So, when you sit back, if you’re Russell Wilson, you’re saying, ‘Yep, I’ve got a little bit of everything here.’”

Former NFL receiver and co-host Andrew Hawkins agreed, saying Williams is the “perfect prescription at the perfect time” for a Steelers offense coming off a bye week. Since Mike Tomlin made Wilson the Steelers’ starting quarterback in the face of steep criticism, Pittsburgh is 2-0 and ranks third in the NFL with 417.5 yards per game over that period.

“George Pickens is an incredible talent but he still has development to do,” Hawkins said. “He needs to solidify his No. 1 both on the field and off. But when you put Mike Williams into the mix, where they’re kind of receiver by committee, and we have to look at it with a small sample size with Russell Wilson over the last two games, they’re able to get production out of Calvin Austin. They’re able to get something out of the slot with Van Jefferson … Mike Williams is incredible there, incredible at contested catches, 50-50 balls and down the field. And we’ve all seen that Russell Wilson has no problem pushing the ball down the field, which is why their offense has been humming.”

Pittsburgh hopes that humming continues in a battle of first-place teams at Washington (7-2) on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS). Wilson has a touchdown pass in 21 consecutive games, the NFL’s longest active streak.

On defense, the Steelers own the NFL’s second-ranked unit, allowing just 14.9 points per game. But Jayden Daniels is 4-0 at home and the Commanders are third in the league with 29.2 points per contest.

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