Hey Steelers Fans. Welcome to Monday.
The Kickoff
I love the NFL Combine. OK, “love” might be a strong word but I really do enjoy it. “Football in Pajamas” as I’ve referred to it over the years really isn’t football at all. It’s feats of strength, combined with who is the fastest kid in school combined with some form of an obstacle course. All of this adds up to a prospect either making himself a lot of money or becoming “just another guy.” The Pittsburgh Steelers will head to Indianapolis without Mike Tomlin for the first time in 20 years. There will no doubt be numerous close-ups of Mike McCarthy and any number of Rich Eisen cliches at the same time. All that is well and good, but that’s not why we watch the Combine. We are watching to see guys who could be future Steelers. As has long been said in Pittsburgh, the Steelers build through the Draft and this is largely where it starts.
The Podcast
Episode 461 of the SCB Steelers Podcast presented by DEK Roofing Inc is available. We discussed Nick Herbig’s situation, the back and forth rumors about Aaron Rodgers and celebrated our annual Blitzie Awards. Another great show with plenty of laughs.
Some Common Combine Things…
Are the Steelers talking to this guy??? They will talk to MANY guys. What I’m curious about is how the number compares this year to past years. Mike Tomlin loved this process and talked to as many players as possible.
When will Omar Khan speak??? He typically speaks on Tuesday afternoon.
When will Mike McCarthy speak??? As of right now, he isn’t scheduled to address the media which is something Tomlin typically did. Personally I think it’s a poor move on his part.
Do the Steelers already know who they’re interested in??? Absolutely. There is a very long list of guys they believe will fit what they do offensively and defensively. This doesn’t mean however that other guys won’t ‘flash’ and suddenly the interest in them grows.
Chatter
There are a few rumblings out there about Darnell Washington. He’s entering the last year of his rookie contract and would seem an ideal candidate for a new deal. There seems to be some uncertainty about whether he “fits” what McCarthy wants to do at tight end… Don’t be surprised if Joey Porter, Jr gets a new deal at some point before or during Training Camp… The Steelers would like to re-sign Isaac Seumalo but this will be all about price and where he wants to finish his career… Calvin Austin III is definitely headed to free agency.
Random Reads
The Gold Medal game yesterday was a perfect example of why games are not played on paper. It was also a good example for why dominating the stat sheet doesn’t mean anything if you can’t score. Canada was the better team but the USA won the game. That’s often the beauty of sport… It’s a shame that politics dominated so much of these games. The Olympics have always had some form of politics involved in them but that was usually an isolated thing. Felt like it was every day this year… I suggest checking out Mary Carillo’s story on Norway and how they develop their athletes. Very interesting… Sounds like there won’t be any debate or discussion over the ‘Tush Push’ at this year’s League meetings. Not much of any substance to be honest.
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