Pittsburgh Steelers: 3 Players who must step up their game in 2018
By Derek Snyder
3. Eli Rogers
After having a good year for the Steelers in 2016, Eli Rogers became one of Roethlisberger’s least-targeted receivers in 2018. Unfortunately for the former Louisville Cardinals wideout, the Steelers receiving core is getting awfully crowded with the addition of JuJu Smith-Schuster. If Rogers can’t seperate himself from the group in 2018, he may have to find work elsewhere.
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In all reality, everyone has been rooting for Rogers since the Steelers gave him an opportunity as a slot receiver in 2016. Not only is he a smaller guy, but he came into the league undrafted, looking to prove the other 31 NFL teams wrong.
Needless to say, when you have a guy like that, it’s easy to get behind him and hope he has what it takes to make it in professional football.
Still, at the end of the day, Rogers didn’t have a productive 2017 whatsoever. According to ESPN, he only recorded 18 receptions for 149 receiving yards and one touchdown. Not to mention, he had a costly special-teams fumble in Chicago when the Steelers lost 23-17 in overtime to the Bears.
For a player who’s, arguably, on-the-bubble in 2018, that’s not the type of thing you want to be remembered for.