Mizzou Football: Ten NFL teams for wide receiver Emanuel Hall

Pittsburgh Steelers

Round 3, Picks 66 & 83

Ben Roethlisberger just lost his top wide receiver due to, um, reasons. Still, the Steelers have JuJu Smith-Schuster, a second-round pick in 2017 out of USC who exploded in 2018, hauling in 111 receptions for 1,426 yards and seven touchdowns.

But after the loss of Brown, it’s slim pickings after Smith-Schuster. Tight end Vance McDonald, who caught 50 passes for 610 yards and two touchdowns, returns, but his positional companion, Jesse James, left for Detroit. The next receiving threat is Ryan Switzer, who averaged only seven yards-per-reception in 2018.

Emanuel Hall would immediately be baptized in fire playing with Big Ben, but the potential for solid rookie numbers is there. In Smith-Schuster’s rookie season, he grabbed 58 passes for 917 yards and seven touchdowns. Those numbers may be unattainable for Hall, but he could come close to that 15.8 yards-per-reception.

It should be noted the Steelers signed wide receiver Donte Moncrief to a two-year, $9 million contract, but this is a guy whose career-year came four years and two teams ago. Pittsburgh, a franchise that loves building through the draft, can add a strong piece in Hall, who can help in Roethlisberger’s waning years, and beyond.