Steelers showing interest in top receivers at NFL Combine
Facing a void at wide receiver if they trade All-Pro Antonio Brown, the Pittsburgh Steelers have conducted or will hold formal interviews with the top members of this year’s pass-catching draft class at the NFL Combine.
Each member of NFL.com analyst Bucky Brooks’ top five receivers has met or will meet with the Steelers. Four of the five have meetings lined up Friday night. The fifth, Riley Ridley of Georgia, said he had a formal visit with the Steelers on Wednesday.
The others are the Mississippi tandem of D.K. Metcalf and A.J. Brown, Oklahoma’s Marquise Brown (cousin of Antonio) and Arizona State’s N’Keal Harry.
“It went really well,” said Ridley, younger brother of Atlanta Falcons receiver Calvin Ridley. “I think I’ve been doing a really good job in all of my meetings. Anybody that I’ve encountered, I’ve just tried to impress people and just improve and be a pro about everything.”
NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah ranks Marquise Brown as his top receiver and the No. 13 overall prospect. Jeremiah rates Metcalf at No. 16, Ridley at No. 29 and A.J. Brown at No. 41.
The Steelers hold the No. 20 overall pick in the draft and could target a receiver in the first round if they grant Brown’s request to be traded.
Joe Rutter is a TribLive reporter who has covered the Pittsburgh Steelers since the 2016 season. A graduate of Greensburg Salem High School and Point Park, he is in his fifth decade covering sports for the Trib. He can be reached at jrutter@triblive.com.
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