Mike Tomlin has often told onlookers not to get too caught up with the depth charts, especially in pre-season and early in the year. However, he never said anything about not overreacting to midseason changes.
It appears the coaching staff has made an adjustment to the starting lineup at the wide receiver position according to the depth chart posted on the team’s website as of Tuesday, a change noted by Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.
It should be pointed out that the Steelers do not make continual changes to this list week after week, so it would be too simplistic to suggest the new order is based on injury to Markus Wheaton.
Darrius Heyward-Bey being listed as the starter opposite Antonio Brown is an interesting update, as is the place of Eli Rogers at the bottom of the chart, although how this impacts the game rotation is yet to be seen.
Perhaps this change is a nod to the professionalism Heyward-Bey shows every day and has little relevance to the expected gameday rotation going forward. Given the receiver position is a fluid one, driven by play necessity and route in many instances, Heyward-Bey may not see any more snaps than he usually does. Even if he starts the game out wide for the first snap of the game, this could merely be a sign of respect or a point to the younger receivers to up their game.
At this point, we have many questions, but hopefully, we will have a few more answers after Sunday in Baltimore.
