When the Steelers went to the Super Bowl in 2010, none of their top five wide receivers was taller than 6 feet.
Just five years ago, only one of their top three wideouts — Mike Wallace — was 6 feet tall.
Remember when the Washington Redskins won the Super Bowl with a collection of wide receivers known as “The Smurfs”?
Well, those days are gone in the NFL, and they are especially gone with the Steelers, who have abandoned their collection of vertically challenged receivers with a crew that would not be too out of place on the basketball court.
“I’ve never seen this many,” said one of them, Darrius Heyward-Bey, who is 6 feet 2, 210 pounds. “We got a lot of tall ones.”
Granted, they still have Antonio Brown, the most productive receiver in the NFL the past four seasons. And the league still has smurf-like receivers such as T.Y. Hilton (5-9) of the Indianapolis Colts, who led the league in receiving yards in 2016. Or even Odell Beckham Jr., of the New York Giants (5-11).
But receivers like Martavis Bryant (6-4, 225), Sammie Coates (6-2, 215) and even rookie JuJu Smith-Schuster (6-1, 215) are becoming the norm in the league. They are just three of the seven receivers on the Steelers roster during offseason training activities who are 6-1 or taller and weigh more than 200 pounds.
They added one of them in free agency — Justin Hunter (6-4, 210), a former No. 2 draft choice in 2013 who played four seasons with the Tennessee Titans.
“Shoot, that’s what helps the team when you got a lot of big-body guys,” Hunter said after a morning practice on the South Side. “When you got a lot of big-body guys with a wide range, that helps out Ben, too.”
Indeed, while Ben Roethlisberger has not had problems finding Brown — the 5-foot-10 receiver has more receptions in a four-year span (481) than any player in league history — he is always talking about the value of having tall receivers. One of the advantages is not having to loft the ball so perfectly over a defensive back to a smaller receiver down the field.
But there is another for Roethlisberger.
“It gives him the opportunity and us the opportunity in the red zone, in the red area, to go up high,” Heyward-Bey said. “We’re a team that definitely throws the ball deep, but when we’re in the red zone we haven’t been a big fade team. I think having tall guys, having [Bryant] back, having Sammie fully healthy, gives us the opportunity to do that. I think that’s what Ben likes.”
Trying to cover those tall receivers is one of the reasons many of the top cornerbacks in this year draft were taller than 6 feet. In fact, 11 of the top 13 cornerbacks selected were 6 feet or taller, including two who were 6-3 — Washington’s Kevin King and Colorado’s Ahkello Witherspoon.
That percentage is even greater than the percentage of taller receivers drafted in the first three rounds. Three of the top four wideouts were 6-3 or taller, including the first two — Corey Davis and Mike Williams. Five of the first seven were at least 6-1, including Smith-Schuster.
Teams will need the big cornerbacks to counter some of the league’s taller receiving duos. Last year, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers started two wide receivers who were 6-5, Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson. The New York Jets started 6-4 Brandon Marshall and 6-3 Eric Decker before Decker was injured. Even the Jacksonville Jaguars started a pair of 6-3 receivers, Allen Robinson and Allen Hurns.
“You find taller receivers who can run and catch, and can play, it’s a plus,” said Bryant, one of the best and biggest playmakers in the league before his yearlong suspension. “But now they have tall cornerbacks for tall wide receivers.”
The Steelers have two other receivers on their offseason roster who are 6-2 and more than 200 pounds — Cobi Hamilton, who appeared in 14 games last year and caught 21 passes and three touchdowns, including an overtime winner against the Cleveland Browns; and free-agent Canaan Severin.
But, they are going to only keep a maximum of six receivers on the 53-man roster, and two of those are Brown and slot receiver Eli Rogers. That leaves six tall receivers to legitimately battle for the other four spots, with Bryant and Smith-Schuster as locks and, probably, Coates, too.
“I think what people go by is that Julio Jones prototype,” Heyward-Bey said, referring to the Atlanta Falcons two-time All-Pro receiver, who is 6-3, 220 pounds. “Ever since Keyshawn [Johnson] came into the league, everybody said you need a 6-3, 6-4 guy, and now, wow, they’re faster.
“But if you can play ball, you can play ball. Look at A.B. Look at who led the league in receiving yards last year, T.Y. Hilton, he’s smaller than most of them. The offensive coordinators are smart enough to find ways to get you the ball.”
Gerry Dulac: gdulac@post-gazette.com and Twitter @gerrydulac.
First Published: June 5, 2017, 4:00 a.m.
