{"id":48195,"date":"2018-08-29T15:37:58","date_gmt":"2018-08-29T19:37:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonnfl.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=48195"},"modified":"2018-08-29T15:37:58","modified_gmt":"2018-08-29T19:37:58","slug":"pittsburgh-steelers-wide-receivers-ryan-switzer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2018\/08\/29\/pittsburgh-steelers-wide-receivers-ryan-switzer\/","title":{"rendered":"Pittsburgh Steelers Smartly Acquire Ryan Switzer, Now Face Tough Roster Decision"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>While it didn&#8217;t make the same headlines, the <a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/steelers\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> would like to think they just made a great acquisition. Perhaps an addition\u00a0that will have the same impact to their special teams as the signing of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/H\/HadeJo99.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joe Haden<\/a><\/strong> did to the defense a year ago.<\/p>\n<p>On Monday, the Steelers <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nfl.com\/news\/story\/0ap3000000951794\/article\/oakland-raiders-trading-ryan-switzer-to-steelers\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">traded a fifth-round pick<\/a> to the <a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/raiders\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Oakland Raiders<\/a> for wide receiver <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/S\/SwitRy00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ryan Switzer<\/a><\/strong> and a sixth-rounder.<\/p>\n<p>Pitt Panthers fans will recall Switzer as a dominant slot receiver at North Carolina. Against Pitt in 2016, he recorded 16 catches, 208 receiving yards and a touchdown, helping the Tar Heels erase a 13-point lead in the final six minutes.<\/p>\n<p>The Steelers, however, need Switzer&#8217;s help in the return game. His ability on special teams makes him a solid acquisition and places the Steelers in a position to make a tough roster decision.<\/p>\n<h2>A Dynamic Returner<\/h2>\n<p>At North Carolina, Switzer returned just two kickoffs, but with the <a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/cowboys\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dallas Cowboys<\/a> in his rookie season last year, he routinely returned punts and kickoffs. Despite little experience in the latter, he was quite successful.<\/p>\n<p>Switzer averaged 25.0 yards per kick return and posted a 61-yard return versus the <a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/eagles\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Philadelphia Eagles<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Ryan Switzer also returned the opening kickoff Week 11 for 61 yards. Steelers aiming for his big play potential. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ct2JoJuymf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/ct2JoJuymf<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Alex Kozora (@Alex_Kozora) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Alex_Kozora\/status\/1034123784515723264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 27, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Against the <a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/redskins\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Washington Redskins<\/a>, Switzer returned a punt for a touchdown, which is something he did seven times at North Carolina.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/SteelersKillerB\/status\/1034123746561413121<\/p>\n<p>After just one year in Dallas, Switzer has been traded twice this off-season (from Dallas to Oakland and then to Pittsburgh). <a href=\"https:\/\/www.star-telegram.com\/sports\/nfl\/article217416165.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">That&#8217;s never a good sign<\/a>, but the Steelers mindset is in the right place.<\/p>\n<h2>Steelers Fill Void After Lacking Return Options<\/h2>\n<p>The Steelers possess the best wide receiver in the league, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=BrowAn04,BrowAn01&amp;search=Antonio+Brown&amp;utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Antonio Brown<\/a><\/strong>, who has five return touchdowns in his career. But as he&#8217;s aged, the Steelers have been more reluctant to have him play special teams. Last year, Brown recorded a career-low 11 punt returns.<\/p>\n<p>Second-year wideout <a href=\"https:\/\/lwosonnfl.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/2017\/03\/01\/juju-smith-schuster-2017-nfl-draft-profile\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>JuJu Smith-Schuster<\/strong><\/a> emerged as a playmaker at the end of his rookie season. He didn&#8217;t return any punts but did average 26.7 yards per kickoff return and posted a 96-yard touchdown return in Week 17.<\/p>\n<p>But the Steelers need Smith-Schuster fresh too. He&#8217;s expected to be the team&#8217;s number two receiver, so a regular role on special teams isn&#8217;t ideal.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/R\/RogeEl00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Eli Rogers<\/a><\/strong> was the only other obvious return option for the Steelers before the Switzer trade, but he&#8217;s injured. Rogers\u00a0is recovering from an ACL tear and is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rotoworld.com\/player\/nfl\/10753\/eli-rogers\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">expected to begin the season on the PUP list<\/a>. He is also suspended for one game for violating the NFL&#8217;s substance abuse policy. Rogers led the Steelers with 19 punt returns in 2017.<\/p>\n<p>His injury and the desire to keep the starting receivers off the special teams made a trade for a returner necessary. Switzer came at a relatively cheap price and has quite a bit of upside for a young player.<\/p>\n<h2>Pittsburgh Steelers Roster Questions<\/h2>\n<p>Acquiring Switzer was necessary and may prove to be a rather shrewd move if he and the return game help win any games. However, it does present the Steelers an interesting roster issue.<\/p>\n<p>There are currently six wide receivers the Steelers would probably like to keep on the active roster.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Steelers now seem destined to keep 6 WRs. <\/p>\n<p>Antonio Brown<br \/>JuJu Smith-Schuster<br \/>James Washington<br \/>Darrius Heyward-Bey<br \/>Justin Hunter<br \/>Ryan Switzer<\/p>\n<p>Sorry Marcus Tucker. Drew short end of the stick. Still practice squad eligible.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Alex Kozora (@Alex_Kozora) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Alex_Kozora\/status\/1034123003473350657?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 27, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Brown and Smith-Schuster are obviously shoe-ins. Since he was a second-round pick, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=WashJa20,WashJa00&amp;search=James+Washington&amp;utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">James Washington<\/a><\/strong> is too. The Steelers wouldn&#8217;t give up a fifth-round pick to then cut Switzer a week later, then add him to the can&#8217;t-cut list as well.<\/p>\n<p>The Steelers really like <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/H\/HeywDa00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Darrius Heyward-Bey<\/a><\/strong> because of his versatility. Although he obviously never lived up to the expectations of being the 2009 seventh overall pick, he&#8217;s a veteran that can contribute if an injury occurs. Plus, he helps a lot covering kicks. That&#8217;s why he&#8217;s entering his fifth season with the Steelers despite catching just 32 passes.<\/p>\n<p>Does that make <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/H\/HuntJu00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Justin Hunter<\/a><\/strong> the odd-man out? By process of elimination, that appears to be correct.<\/p>\n<p>However, Hunter isn&#8217;t making it an easy decision. He <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rotoworld.com\/player\/nfl\/8415\/justin-hunter\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">hauled in a 32-yard touchdown<\/a> from quarterback <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/R\/RoetBe00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ben Roethlisberger<\/a><\/strong> against the Titans last week. That&#8217;s the big-play ability that convinced, coincidentally, the Titans to make him the 34th overall pick in 2013.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, there&#8217;s a reason why he&#8217;s a reclamation project. Hunter also made two big blunders in the preseason game, one of which led to an interception.<\/p>\n<p>But teams can do far worse at their fourth wide receiver spot. Even if it&#8217;s just in flashes, Hunter&#8217;s splash ability could be enough to convince the Steelers to keep six wide receivers.<\/p>\n<p>With the acquisition of Switzer, the Steelers not only have a new toy for special teams, they could be forced to make a sacrifice elsewhere on the roster in order to make room for a sixth wideout.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"JQQqIfmmTZpojZRNgL-Drg\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/885170116\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'JQQqIfmmTZpojZRNgL-Drg',sig:'Z_Y2Kn0JwlGRECepMjAFpBC6lvVRHQBXB9XW9kHsd5g=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'885170116',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While it didn&#8217;t make the same headlines, the Pittsburgh Steelers would like to think they just made a great acquisition. Perhaps an addition\u00a0that will have the same impact to their special teams as the signing of Joe Haden did to the defense a year ago. On Monday, the Steelers traded a fifth-round pick to the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2670,"featured_media":48216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[884,61,3570,226,40,81,1722],"class_list":["post-48195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-steelers","tag-darrius-heyward-bey","tag-football","tag-james-washington","tag-justin-hunter","tag-nfl","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-ryan-switzer"],"modified_by":"John Bava","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2670"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}