After losing his cool with the Rams, is Van Jefferson about to make a big splash for the Steelers?
Although Van Jefferson was destined for greatness even before he entered the NFL, he was traded to the Atlanta Falcons last season and is now on his third team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was previously selected in the second round by the Los Angeles Rams. In order to contend for a spot on the 53-man roster, Van, the son of former NFL receiver and current NFL receivers coach Shawn Jefferson, inked a one-year contract with the Steelers in March.
However, after OTAs, and with George Pickens leading the way, it appears that Jefferson’s scant Rams experience is paying off in terms of playing time: Regarding Pittsburgh’s number-two receiver position, Jefferson is the player to beat, according to Mark Kaboly of The Athlete and a few other Steelers beat writers.
When Los Angeles selected Jefferson 57th overall in 2020, he was likened to Robert Woods, with the expectation that he would take Woods’ spot in a year or two. That never materialized, and the Rams were forced to keep adding receivers to help the offense, such as Allen Robinson—a former Rams player who moved to Pittsburgh in an attempt to revive his career—Odell Beckham Jr., and Tutu Atwell.
Despite having a career-high 50 catches for 802 yards and six touchdowns in 2021, Jefferson failed to deliver when the Rams needed him to in the playoffs because of injuries. On 17 targets, he had nine catches for 102 yards and no touchdowns.
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Even with Cooper Kupp sidelined for half of the 2022 season, Jefferson had fewer targets than Robinson and Ben Skowronek.
Jefferson had 12 catches on 28 targets for 101 yards after the team traded him to the Falcons in 2023 in exchange for a late-day three-pick trade in 2025. Kaboly lists Calvin Austin and Quez Watkins as other Steelers receivers who could challenge Jefferson, but it appears that Roman Wilson, a third-round selection out of Michigan, is not included. Wilson might be so far behind, or this could be an oversight.
For the time being, it appears that Jefferson is also Pittsburgh’s second wide receiver. In addition, he doesn’t appear to be up against anyone.
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