Hey Steelers Fans. Welcome to Sunday,
The Kickoff
Every one of the 32 NFL teams has now been in action for the 2026 Preseason. And every one of them has a slightly different feeling heading into their second game. Some teams are feeling good, confident even about their performances while others are wondering if things are as bad as they looked. There are numerous examples as to why the preseason is not about outcomes. Ask the 2008 Detroit Lions who went 0-16. In the preseason, they had gone 4-0. And look no further than our beloved Steelers. Kenny Pickett had a perfect preseason in 2023 giving hope to fans everywhere that we had found our next franchise QB. Then the Niners showed up in week one ending those thoughts almost immediately. I share all of this not because I wasn’t happy with Thursday night’s performance, but because I’ve seen what happens when we get too far ahead of ourselves.
Benton and JPJ
Now that Keeanu Benton has earned his second contract with the Steelers, that means that only Joey Porter, Jr remains without a second deal from Omar Khan’s first draft class. I had some thoughts on both guys yesterday.
Concerning
Despite not even playing in last week’s preseason opener, both D.K. Metcalf and Michael Pittman, Jr are both dealing with injury issues and neither are expected to play on Friday night. The list of guys with issues doesn’t stop there however. Also not practicing yesterday were Jaquan Brisker, Brandin Echols, Max Iheanachor, Brandon Smith and Sebastian Joseph-Day. Because it’s August 16th I am not going to throw my hands in the air and give up on the season. The number of guys ‘out’ is definitely concerning but none of us should be hitting the panic button right now.
QB Rotation
Mason Rudolph will remain the number two QB for now but I am curious to see how the snaps are spread out this Friday against the Jets. With just three preseason games, this one becomes the ‘dress rehearsal’ if you will which suggests that most starters will get some reps. Whether Aaron Rodgers is one of them we don’t know yet. I’m most curious about Drew Allar and Will Howard. Will it be like last week when Howard played before Allar or will they switch? I’d also be curious to see if they come in a bit sooner than they did last week as well.
Moves are Coming
I’m not going to make any specific predictions here, but because there have been some injuries already around the League, I think you’ll see some moves made. Injuries aren’t the only thing though. There are a handful of teams who also recognized they have starters who aren’t getting it done or areas where the depth is poor. That means all 32 teams are actively looking at each other’s rosters to see who has what and where. If Howard and Allar both play well again this week, then I fully expect ‘quarterback needy’ teams to inquire about Mason Rudolph and possibly Howard. Those are major “ifs” but that’s how the process works.
Random Reads
LeBron James now has a YouTube golf page… Pat McAfee has a rap album out now too. I’m not judging because I haven’t seen his golf swing and I haven’t heard McAfee’s music but I haven’t heard good things especially about the latter… Baltimore kicker Tyler Loop, who finished his 2025 season by missing wide right which sent the Steelers to the postseason, started his preseason with a miss… To the right… I don’t know if Lew Nichols will be the third running back or not but the young man has a much better chance than Kaleb Johnson does… I continue to be impressed by Max Hurleman. He had a really nice preseason last year and did some nice things Thursday night too. He’s likely headed back to the Practice Squad though… It’s hard to know the truth these days about literally anything but I do know this; our men and women in the military deserve respect and should never go without. I’ll leave it at that.
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