The Pittsburgh Steelers desperately need another pass-catcher to emerge and take some attention away from top receiver D.K. Metcalf. In Week 11, it’s possible the Steelers turn to a wideout on their practice squad — Marquez Valdes-Scantling — for the potential answer.
Head coach Mike Tomlin presented that as a possibility when asked about Valdes-Scantling’s possible role against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.
“We’ll see what the week holds for him and all the others on the practice squad,” Tomlin told reporters Tuesday. “We’re not opposed to elevating people and giving them an opportunity to contribute. I think it’s just been about every game this year where we’ve elevated someone and utilized their talents.
“I’m certainly open to evaluating Scantling. His ability to know what to do and the quality of that execution and how it might fit into what we’re trying to do offensively in an effort to engineer victory.”
The Steelers officially signed Valdes-Scantling to the practice squad on November 4. The team released former part-time 2024 starting cornerback Beanie Bishop Jr. to make space for Valdes-Scantling.
In five games with the San Francisco 49ers at the beginning of the season, Valdes-Scantling had four catches for 40 yards. He received eight targets.
It’s not particularly shocking the Steelers are looking for more production from their pass-catchers. Metcalf and Roman Wilson led the team in receiving with only 35 yards during Week 10.
For the season, just Metcalf has more than 275 receiving yards. The Steelers No. 2 receiver, Calvin Austin III has 237 receiving yards and is averaging just 47.2 receiving yards per game.
The Steelers have managed to mostly mask their receiving depth issues this season. But Austin’s statistics as a WR2 are not going to get it done most weeks.
Valdes-Scantling used to be WR2-type player. From 2020-22, he averaged about 34 catches and 600 receiving yards per season. Valdes-Scantling also averaged 17.9 yards per reception during that stretch.
Maybe most importantly, the veteran receiver would give quarterback Aaron Rodgers another receiver he can trust. Rodgers and Valdes-Scantling played four years together with the Green Bay Packers.
In summary, the Steelers are looking for a spark wherever they can get one for the offense or special teams in Week 11. Valdes-Scantling is one possibility. But so is Austin on special teams.
Since suffering a shoulder injury in Week 4, the Steelers haven’t used Austin in his usual punt returner role. Instead, Ke’Shawn Williams has returned punts.
But Sunday night, Williams fumbled against the Chargers.
“As Calvin cam back from injury, we wanted him to focus on getting back up to speed offensively,” Tomlin told reporters. “Ke’Shawn had done an above-the-line job in that space, but certainly, we will look at this week and make plans accordingly given what transpired in the last game.”
Scotty Miller could also be an option for the Steelers offense and special teams. Tomlin told reporters Tuesday that Miller has been cleared to practice. The veteran has missed the past couple games with a broken finger.
If the Steelers turn to Valdes-Scantling, he could provide a big-play threat. In 111 games, he’s averaged 17.3 yards per reception and scored 20 touchdowns.
With the Packers, Valdes-Scantling had a 17.5 yards per catch average and 13 scores in 59 contests.
The Cleveland Browns are off to a 2-7 start, and fans have called for head coach Kevin Stefanski to be fired.
However, it is unlikely that Stefanski will be fired this season. Meanwhile, Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot revealed that he is likely to return in 2026. General manager Andrew Berry is also expected back, according to Cabot.
“The truth is, we have no idea what they are actually really thinking,” Cabot said on 92.3 The Fan. “I know going into it, Jimmy Haslam has indicated, I believe at the owner’s meetings, that he wasn’t holding Kevin and Andrew’s feet to the fire because this was the year they were trying to figure out what they had in one of these rookie quarterbacks. Or, at least at that point, they knew it was going to be one rookie quarterback.
“I don’t think there was this sense of ‘win or else’ this season. It was about fact-finding and figuring out what they had and helping them inform what to do in the 2026 draft. I just don’t think this was a year where the expectations were super, crazy high. But, still, you have to see certain things from your football team. … I do think that Jimmy believes in continuity and alignment in his organization. And, he knows that this is a challenging year with all of the rookies. In a perfect world, he’s going to want to try to maintain that continuity. And, see if they can’t get this thing on the right track with a new quarterback they will probably draft in 2026.
Cabot believes Haslam still has confidence in Berry and Stefanski, and both could very well return next season with a new quarterback.
Cleveland has struggled this season as the Browns are off to a 2-7 start and coming off a disappointing 27-20 road loss to the New York Jets.
Following the loss, Stefanski made it clear that the goal and focus are on turning it around and finding ways to win.
“Obviously frustrated, disappointed on that result yesterday,” Stefanski said on Monday. “And we’re spending time right now watching it with the players and trying to learn from that. You know, hard to win on the road, and certainly hard when you do some of the things we did in that ball game. But we’re committed to this thing, and we’ll just find ways to get better in all areas and we’ll go from there. Big division game at our place this week.”
Stefanski believes the Browns have to be better in all three phases of the game. Despite that being an issue all season, he has full confidence in his group.
The Browns will host the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday in a game Cleveland is a 7.5-point underdog.
Although Stefanski hasn’t been fired, and there are no signs he will be, his name has come up for other jobs.
The New York Giants fired Brian Daboll on Monday after a loss to the Chicago Bears. Following Daboll’s firing, NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky links Stefanski to the Giants.
“The No. 1 name that I would pay attention to if I were the Giants is what happens in Cleveland with Kevin Stefanski,” Orlovsky said on Monday on NFL Live. “If I could hand-pick a guy, it would be Stefanski. He’s an outstanding coach, two-time Coach of the Year.
“I understand people in Cleveland are like, ‘This guy can’t coach’. But there’s a lot of empirical data that would say otherwise. … I would pay attention to see what’s going on in Cleveland.”
Stefanski has been the Browns’ head coach since 2020 and has led them to the playoffs twice.