The Pittsburgh Steelers were always one of the best teams at drafting and developing wide receivers, but not recently. Their receiver corps has declined, so they’ve traded for veteran wideouts like Michael Pittman Jr. and DK Metcalf. They still added some youth at receiver, drafting Germie Bernard in the second round. While Pittman and Metcalf figure to be the team’s top two receivers, James Palmer believes Bernard could still have plenty of success as a rookie.
“He is everything that I think Pittsburgh Steelers fans want in a player,” Palmer said Sunday on Steve Smith Sr.’s YouTube channel. “He’s tough. He’s physical. He can be moved around. He doesn’t get bumped off his routes real well.
“Defenders’ contact doesn’t really affect him at all. You get your first year to work with a guy like Aaron Rodgers, and you have veterans like DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman in your room. I think he’s set up to start his career really, really well.”
Some might believe that Rodgers being the Steelers’ quarterback isn’t a good sign for Bernard as a rookie. Rodgers asks for a lot from his receivers. Younger players can struggle to meet that standard.
Look at what happened with Roman Wilson last year. He struggled to develop chemistry with Rodgers, so the Steelers eventually benched him in favor of veteran receivers.
However, Bernard might not have that issue. He has earned much praise from teammates and coaches for his attention to detail. Bernard is a solid route runner, and he was a dependable weapon in college. Ian Hartitz shared on Twitter that PFF marked Bernard as only having a 2.5 percent drop rate in college. That could quickly endear him to Rodgers.
Career drop rate (PFF):
Germie Bernard (2.5%)
Makai Lemon (2.8%)
Elijah Sarratt (3.6%)
Carnell Tate (4%)
Omar Cooper (4.2%)
CJ Daniels (4.3%)
Zachariah Branch (4.8%)
Antonio Williams (5%)
Ja’Kobi Lane (7.5%)
Denzel Boston (7.6%)
Jordyn Tyson (7.6%)
Chris Bell (7.9%)
Chris…— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) January 25, 2026
What could that look like throughout the whole season, though? It’s tough to see Bernard outproducing Metcalf or Pittman. Both of them figure to get the lion’s share of the work at receiver. Bernard probably won’t have gaudy rookie statistics.
Still, he could learn a lot from playing with Rodgers. If Bernard makes plays and holds onto the Steelers’ No. 3 receiver job for most of the season, that would be a solid start to his career. He could be a nice building block for the Steelers’ offense going forward.