The Athletic’s Mike DeFabo thinks the Steelers could call “lots of quick slants to DK Metcalf” to keep Aaron Rodgers “upright more often and take advantage of his quick release.”

20 June 2025

Both Rodgers and OC Arthur Smith are students of “Matt LaFleur’s Shanahan-style offense,” so the two should theoretically gel well, conceptually. Rodgers is well past his prime, however, and DeFabo believes Metcalf’s speed could help alleviate age-related concerns. Though Metcalf performed poorly on slant routes last year, he has generally performed very well on them throughout his career. On qualifying routes, he’s caught 75-of-109 targets for 844 yards and six touchdowns while averaging more than 2.55 yards per slant-route run in 4-of-6 seasons.