Quarterback Aaron Rodgers of the Pittsburgh Steelers didn't play in Week 12. He broke a bone in his left wrist and missed the game. He might have been thankful to have the time off, though, and not have to play with former Seattle Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf.
Metcalf was traded this past offseason, of course, from Seattle to Pittsburgh in return for a second-round draft pick. The Seahawks turned that choice into safety Nick Emmanwori. Emmanwori has been excellent in his first season in the NFL, but Metcalf hasn't been overly good in his first year for the Steelers.
He hasn't been terrible, mind you, but he almost certainly hasn't been the transcendent performer Pittsburgh hoped it would be when they dealt for him, and especially after they signed Metcalf to an extension that includes as much as $132 million over the next four seasons. He's been slightly worse than he was in previous seasons with Seattle, but that isn't good enough with the Steelers.
DL Metcalf doing same things for the Pittsburgh Steelers that he did with the Seattle Seahawks
Plus, the issue is that Metcalf has confirmed the knock on him when he was in Seattle. That is that despite his immense physical skills, he is a bad route-runner. That often causes his quarterback to throw the ball to spots where Metcalf should have been and wasn't.
Metcalf set quarterback Geno Smith up for failure many times when both were with the Seahawks. Smith would expect Metcalf to cut his routes sharply many times, but the wide receiver would round his routes. This led directly to interceptions for Smith several times.
This year with Rodgers, it isn't necessarily the picks that have been issues for Rodgers, but rather the potentially explosive plays that never materialized. In Week 8 against Rodgers' first team, the Green Bay Packers, Metcalf dropped a pass in the end zone, and Rodgers could not hide his rage.
During Week 10 in a 25-10 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, Rodgers tried to hit Metcalf on a deep pass, but instead of continuing to run a post route, Metcalf cut his route off after he saw the quarterback begin to scramble. The pass ended up being overthrown because Metcalf wasn't where he was supposed to be.
The main issue with DK Metcalf is that he has never truly turned all his raw skill into elite production. He has never come close to being a top-three wide receiver in terms of production. He is scoring a few more touchdowns this season, but isn't producing enough to always get his team into the red zone.
Based on his pace through Week 11 (and before the Steelers' Week 12 game that Rodgers will miss), Metcalf will finish with 63 catches and 937 yards receiving, his lowest numbers since his rookie season in 2019. Could he trend up? Sure, but he isn't playing up to his contract value. He didn't with the Seattle Seahawks either.