When Jerricho Cotchery signed with the Carolina Panthers on Wednesday, the Steelers were caught off guard. One gets the sense they expected Cotchery to re-sign in Pittsburgh and hold down that #2-3 role on the wide receiver depth chart. With Cotchery's defection and Emmanuel Sanders' signing with the Denver Broncos, the wide receiving corps in Pittsburgh consisted of Antonio Brown, Markus Wheaton, and Derek Moye. That's not a competetive NFL group. You could argue that Jerricho Cotchery doesn't improve that a whole lot, and I might agree, but clearly another presence was needed.
Enter Lance Moore. The former New Orleans Saint spent his career up to this point catching passes from Drew Brees. He likely won't see quite the same offensive explosions in a new shade of black and gold, but on the surface, an established veteran WR gives the Steelers a little bit better depth.
Still, a tandem of Brown and Moore coupled with optimistic projections for Markus Wheaton leave something to be desired in my opinion. I don't think the Steelers go receiver in the first round (the defense still needs more help), but I think it will definitely be something to be adressed on day 2 or 3.
In the meantime, there is going to be pressure on Wheaton to produce from the #3 role in 2014. Brown and Moore are known commodities, but if Wheaton makes the kind of jump Antonio Brown did from year 1 to year 2, the Steelers could actually field a fairly dynamic passing offense.
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