Welcome to Hot Reads!
After many years of giving you “Quick Hitters” we felt it was time for a rebrand. Hot Reads will look and feel very similar to that but I’m hoping to offer up a few different things along the way. The subject matter is of course the Pittsburgh Steelers, the NFL and some random thoughts along the way. In essence, I’m going back to when I started nearly 20 years ago. I hope you enjoy it.
Fautanu
The Steelers announced that rookie Troy Fautanu is the starter at right tackle. This is intriguing because Fautanu was injured (MCL sprain) on Friday night and will miss a few weeks. What is also interesting is that Broderick Jones appears to still be a swing tackle. We have to assume that Dan Moore, who started Friday at left tackle, will remain in that spot.
Why the Business Sucks
I sent a message to Scarps in our podcast group chat yesterday asking about Mark Kaboly, long-time Steelers’ writer most recently of The Athletic. Mark hadn’t written anything in over a week and I found that strange. Being a former Steelers’ PR guy, Scarps knows just about everyone in the Pittsburgh press. Within seconds of him telling me Mark was fine, a post on Twitter came from Mark. He announced he was no longer with The Athletic. Being a journalist these days is difficult to say the least. Mark does a great job and I hope he catches on somewhere soon.
From Latrobe
Russell Wilson got the most action he’s had in all of Camp yesterday and looked very sharp. Again, it’s practice and things are controlled but he threw the ball well and appeared to have great control of the offense… Cory Trice Jr who finally saw game action after missing all of his rookie season, ran with the starters today according to Nick Farabaugh of Penn Live. What an incredible opportunity for the young man… Still no Roman Wilson. He’s no longer in a boot and looks pretty good but he still isn’t practicing… The Steelers have waived Kalon Barnes with an injury designation. He had a nice game on Friday night too… Joining Barnes to a degree is Breidan Fehoko. He was placed on Injured Reserve this week. Being almost exclusively a nose tackle probably didn’t help his cause either… Keannu Benton was back at practice yesterday in a bit of a limited role. He suffered an eye injury in the game Friday night. It isn’t expected to be a problem long-term. Benton is in line for a big season.
It will always be a case of “what might have been” with Martavis Bryant. Ridiculously talented but always troubled.
The #Commanders have signed veteran WR Martavis Bryant, giving him one more chance for a comeback.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 13, 2024
Fields of Doubt
Former NFL Head Coach Herm Edwards and current ESPN talking head was not overly impressed with what he saw out of Justin Fields against the Texans. He wasn’t alone either. SiriusXM NFL Radio’s Rich Gannon felt very much the same way. To summarize, both recognize the skills that Fields brings to the position but they also saw a lot of the same tendencies that he had in Chicago. On the move, he’s dangerous. From the pocket, he struggles mightily as he took some bad sacks and if the ball wasn’t out in ‘1-2-3’ then the processing just wasn’t there. It’s just one game but both Edwards and Gannon aren’t wrong here.
Random Rumblings
Brandon Aiyuk is still a 49er and his options are pretty much down to remaining that way or coming to Pittsburgh. The problem? The Steelers aren’t going to sell the farm to get him… I try to take one day at a time but I can’t help but think that for the second straight year in 2025, the Steelers’ QB room could see 100% turnover. I hope not, but it’s possible… Does anyone know why Chris Simms buttons his shirts all the way to the top? Very weird to me… Did you catch the end of that NASCAR race last weekend? One driver wrecked two others in the final lap in order to win. Probably not safe, but I’d love to see more of that!
Hot Reads is Presented by Frank Walker Law!
