The Steelers signed former Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Quez Watkins on Monday. Watkins caught 15 passes for 142 yards last season, lining up mostly as a slot receiver. In four seasons in Philly, Watkins tallied 98 receptions and six touchdowns. Watkins also has experience as a kick returner and should see some time in that capacity, provided he makes the final roster in Pittsburgh.

That last bit tells you all you need to know about the Watkins signing. Both he and Van Robinson, Pittsburgh’s other free agent signee at receiver, are depth pieces. It’s nice that Watkins has experience in the slot. The Steelers lack a proven player to fill that role given the release of Allen Robinson. New offensive coordinator Arthur Smith isn’t expected to use a slot receiver very often, but when the Steelers choose to spread the field, Watkins gives them a suitable option there.

As for Jefferson, he is a big, physical player who could potentially see reps as a blocker out of bunch sets or by motioning him in from a split position to kick the back side of zone run plays or wrap up to box safeties and linebackers. Neither Robinson nor Watkins have been acquired to replace Diontae Johnson as the team’s starting receiver opposite George Pickens, however. The hunt for that player continues. With the remaining receiver market fairly thin, and the cost of trading for an established receiver likely to be steep, it may take until the draft for it to be resolved.

Pittsburgh’s flurry of moves in the first week of free agency told us a lot about the internal view of their off-season priorities. They moved quickly to fill a big need at linebacker by signing Patrick Queen, and then they turned the football world upside down for a few days by dealing Johnson and overhauling their quarterback room. Lost in those seismic maneuvers were the moves they didn’t make. The void at receiver is significant, as is the one at center, where the release of Mason Cole leaves the Steelers without a viable starter. If you’re looking for a window into their draft plans, those positions are a good place to start.

No off-season ever plays out in real time the way it looks on paper. Sitting here today, a month before the selections begin, it’s easy to suggest the Steelers will use the draft to address their needs at receiver and center. That statement could be rendered moot any day between now and then. General manager Omar Khan has demonstrated his willingness to buck the conventional Pittsburgh wisdom of keeping your head down for much of the off-season and building through the draft. On Monday, in fact, he told the media at the NFL owner’s meetings that he would not rule out trading for a veteran center. Will he? No one really knows. The Pittsburgh brass told anyone who would listen over the winter that they were committed to Kenny Pickett as their starting quarterback and that he’d enter training camp as QB1 “with competition.” We all know how that played out. Your guess is as good as mine whether a move at center materializes.

Even if he does, it stands to reason the Steelers will prioritize the center position in the draft. Whomever they land via trade, should one occur, is unlikely to be a stalwart at the position. The Lions are not parting ways with Frank Ragnow. The Chiefs aren’t dealing Creed Humphrey. Studs like Drew Dalman and Tyler Lindebaum are off limits. Pittsburgh’s best bet to solidify the position this off-season was probably to sign Mitch Morse when he was released by Buffalo. But Jacksonville outbid them for Morse’s services. So if a trade does come, it will be for a mid-level player at best.

The quality of this draft’s center class makes the prospect of taking one early attractive. There are four players – Oregon’s Jackson Powers-Johnson, Duke’s Graham Barton, West Virginia’s Zach Frazier and Georgia’s Sedrick Van Pran – who could all potentially be immediate starters for whomever selects them. A deal for a mid-level starter at center, like the one the Steelers made a few years ago when they signed Cole, would almost surely signal they intend to select one of those collegiate players. No deal at all would make it a virtual certainty.

A similar situation exists at the receiver position. It’s still possible the Steelers sign a veteran like Tyler Boyd or perhaps Josh Reynolds, or that Khan pulls the trigger on a big move for a marquee pass catcher. But a trade for Brandon Aiyuk or Justin Jefferson seems unlikely given the price tag. The Steelers did not draft a receiver last season, and the last time they went two years in a row without taking one was 2003-2004.

As with the centers, it’s a deep receiver class with starting-caliber players available in the early rounds. Whether the Steelers target someone like LSU’s Brian Thomas or perhaps Texas speedster Adonai Mitchell in Round 1, or perhaps Michigan’s Roman Wilson, Oregon’s Troy Franklin or South Carolina’s Xavier Legette in Round 2, will depend on how the chips fall. But if they want an impact player to pair with Pickens, they are likely to find one.

(For my video breakdown on Legette, click the link below):

There are needs elsewhere, of course. The Steelers could take an offensive tackle, a cornerback or a linebacker in Round 1 or 2 as easily as a center or receiver. The tackle position would be especially attractive if Georgia’s Amarius Mims or Alabama’s J.C. Latham were available at 1:20. But the Steelers have two returning starters at tackle, and although they’d prefer to upgrade from Dan Moore Jr. on the left side, switching Moore and Broderick Jones from one side to the other makes sense. They could address similar concerns at corner and linebacker later in the draft, or with their existing personnel. There are no such fixes at center and receiver.

In the end, while there’s no telling how the next few weeks will unfold, the moves the Steelers have made thus far seem to have their draft plans coming into focus. The franchise routinely drafts for a combination of talent and need, and this year, those priorities, combined with their relative inaction at center and receiver, suggest their bullseye in the first few rounds will be squarely on those positions.