Hey Steelers Fans. Welcome to Thursday.
The Kickoff
Terry Bradshaw is my all-time favorite Steeler. When people ask me why, I tell them two things. First, he was one of my earliest memories of watching the Steelers and second, he was an incredibly flawed person. The older I get the more I understand the issues that Bradshaw had off the field. Therefore, I’ve come to appreciate him more both as a player and as a person. Pittsburgh’s other Hall of Fame QB (soon to be anyway) is ten years younger than I am so I view Ben Roethlisberger through a different lens. Like Bradshaw, Big Ben will be on my own personal Steelers’ Mount Rushmore. This doesn’t however mean that I agree with everything these men say or do. Roethlisberger aired his podcast (which is clearly not as good as ours) this week and made some interesting comments regarding his last few seasons compared with what Aaron Rodgers has around him in Pittsburgh. Where Big Ben was 100% right was when he discussed the team drafting Kendrick Green. That was an experiment that failed mightily and Roethlisberger should have never had to have dealt with that. But… Ben also sounded like he had eaten some ‘sour grapes’ too as he lamented not having a guy like D.K. Metcalf. Look, Ben had one of the best wide receivers in pro football for a number of years. He had a very good tight end and talented running backs too. Suggesting that the Steelers, I.e. Kevin Colbert and Mike Tomlin, didn’t provide him with talent isn’t quite fair. Are there some arguments to be made in his favor? Of course but overall, Ben doesn’t come off well in this instance.
Congrats!
Steelers’ Outside Linebacker Alex Highsmith was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against the Colts. He finished the afternoon with four tackles, two sacks and three tackles for loss. He also forced a fumble and had a pass defensed. His big day could not have come at a better time for the defense.
Personnel News
The Steelers signed defensive lineman Brodric Martin-Rhodes from the Chiefs’ Practice Squad yesterday. That means he has to be elevated to the active roster for the next three weeks… CB Asante Samuel, Jr visited the Steelers yesterday. The Steelers’ team surgeon Dr. David Okonkwo did Samuel’s spinal surgery and has cleared him to play once again. The former Pro Bowler has visits with other teams as well before he decides where to play… WR Marques Valdes-Scantling remains on the Practice Squad. Between he and Martin, the Steelers will need to do some re-shuffling. To make room for MVS, the team released Beanie bIshop, Jr who had requested his release.
Speaking of Bishop…
It’s my understanding that the Steelers liked a lot of the athletic things Bishop could do but his consistent struggles to know his assignment and understand the defense are mostly what contributed to him not seeing the field in 2025.
The Latest Inside Blitz
My latest SCB Steelers Inside Blitz aired on Tuesday night. This short-form podcast is usually about 10-12 minutes long which is the perfect amount of time to opine on the team. Check it out!
Random Reads
Cliff, one of our two draft guys here at SCB has authored his first Three-Round Mock of the year… Speaking of Mock Drafts, Nick Baumgartner of The Athletic has a first round mock out and has the Steelers taking Oregon QB Dante Moore. He also assumes Aaron Rodgers returns for a year so Moore could sit and learn… If you missed Gordon’s weekly Steelers History segment here it is… Awful news out of Dallas. 24-year old Marshawn Kneeland who scored his first NFL touchdown off a blocked punt this week has passed away. No cause given as of yet. Kneeland was a star player down the road from me at my alma mater Western Michigan… Getting old sucks. I’ll leave it at that.
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