Could it be that now after the team added another veteran receiver that this is the week Marquez Valdes-Scantling gets his opportunity for his Pittsburgh Steelers debut?
“I think I’m a pretty quick learner,” Valdes-Scantling said after Friday’s practice at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, “and, you know, whenever the time is ready. I’ll be ready to go.”
Some 4 ½ weeks after he was signed to the Steelers’ practice squad — and during the same week that 35-year-old Adam Thielen was signed to the active roster — Valdes-Scantling, perhaps, is in line for a practice-squad elevation for Sunday’s game at the Baltimore Ravens.
Valdes-Scantling has not been elevated to the gameday roster for any of the four games the Steelers have played since he joined the organization.
But the Steelers have lost three of those four, the offense has produced an average of fewer than 20 points per game in that time and the entire wide receivers corps have combined for an average of 6.8 catches for 66.5 receiving yards per game over that time. During the most recent game — a 26-7 loss to the Buffalo Bills — no receiver aside from DK Metcalf (thee catches, 32 yards) had a reception.
That could open the door for either Thielen — who was claimed off waivers Tuesday — or the 31-year-old Valdes-Scantling.
“When I’ve gotten my opportunities to go out (in practice) and hop out there with (starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers) or even hop out there with (QB2 Mason Rudolph), I’ve been able to make that work,” Valdes-Scantling said. “And then, obviously, getting some scout-team reps to just keep my body in shape. Going against the first team defense has been good, too. So I’ve been on both sides of it, and it’s been a good experience.”
Coincidentally, the Steelers have not completed a pass that has been targeted more than 20 yards downfield since Valdes-Scantling’s arrival. During Valdes-Scantling’s prime — in which he was playing with Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers — he was one of the NFL’s best deep-ball receivers.
Now that it has been more than a month, Valdes-Scantling very much could be part of the solution for the Steelers’ struggling offense.
“It’s a new system, so I’m trying to jump in,” he said. “Learn as much as you can. Obviously, I played with Aaron for four years, so there’s some carryover to the way that he likes to do things, but the system is completely different.”
