Honestly, much of the Steelers' famed success at finding receivers predates 2011; Hines Ward (3rd round) in 1998, Antwaan Randle-el (2nd) in 2002, Mike Wallace (3rd) in 2009, Emmanuel Sanders (3rd) and Antonio Brown (6th) in 2010.
Since 2011, the Steelers have drafted 13 wide receivers and signed one significant UDFA contributor.
A few things stand out here: first, the Steelers place an emphasis on return guys (in fact, if you're not from a Power Five school, you won't get a look from them if you don't return kicks), including every single Day 3 or UDFA selection. Second, there's a 9 inch hand size threshold. And third, 8 of 13 picks are Day 2 investments.
Moving on to athletic profile.
The vertical and broad jumps are valued measurements (most above 33 inches and 10 feet, respectively), and most of the Day 2 guys ran 4.50 or lower in the 40. Both of the 4th round picks appear to be risk/reward dice rolls; Bryant was an athletic marvel with just one starting season (with mediocre production), while Austin has great speed and athletic ability but is tiny.
Lastly, production metrics.
Markus Wheaton never panned out as much more than a decent NFL player, but his production showed promise and the athletic profile was there. Ditto James Washington, whom I was a big fan of back in the 2018 draft. (Whoops.) JuJu Smith-Schuster was undervalued due to injuries his last season at USC, and the Steelers took advantage. Might have done the same with George Pickens.
It's hard to draw a lot of conclusions from this subset. Drafting wide receivers every year is definitely a philosophy they embrace. Pittsburgh doesn't seem to have a particular physical profile beyond a 9 inch minimum hand size (unlike, say, the Packers' penchant for receivers over 6 ft and 200 pounds). They favor athletic guys on Day 2 (self-evident, really, being that they're Day 2 picks) and emphasize contributions as return men. But their recent track record doesn't really live up to their reputation.
