Good Monday to you Steelers fans.
More than a month after their season came to a crashing halt, the Pittsburgh Steelers have just about finished rebuilding their coaching staff. Added last week as an assistant offensive line coach and run game coordinator was Chris Morgan. He actually has more experience than Adrian Klemm, who is the OL Coach, but he’ll be there to assist. More recently was the addition of a secondary coach. Just days after taking a position at the University of Houston, Grady Brown agreed to coach the defensive backs in Pittsburgh. Brown has college experience at numerous schools and has a mathematics degree from Alabama A&M. These hires complete the staff in terms of significant coaching positions but there could be additional hires. Don’t be surprised if you see an analytics person or two along with some quality control people as well. Having this come together is good considering the work the Steelers must do in terms of the salary cap now.
Tweet of the Day… I would welcome this…
I have a feeling that there will be big Steeler news today!
— Pillsbury JoeBoy (@jpbucco) February 15, 2021
OK, OK, Let’s Talk J.J. Watt
Let me say this first. The salary cap can ALWAYS be manipulated to do just about anything so what I will not say is “There’s ZERO way Watt comes to Pittsburgh.” With that out of the way, let’s examine more closely. The Steelers already have a big number of their own guys to deal with in free agency. Some won’t be back and some will. That’s how getting under the cap by the new league year works. But let’s talk more about Watt. If he wants to come to a Super Bowl contender why come to Pittsburgh? Sure, anything is possible, but I don’t see this team being in the hunt the next couple of years. Secondly, what do you pay him? If he is willing to take the veteran minimum that’s terrific and could very well be doable. He’s made well over $100 million in his career so money doesn’t appear to be an issue. The NFLPA may be a bit more concerned with him doing that though because his value is so much higher. But then there’s the bigger piece to this, where does he play? Stephon Tuitt and Cameron Heyward are solidified as your main defensive line threats. With the Steelers spending most of their defensive time in nickel, that usually means Tuitt and Heyward are inside while T.J. Watt and (we’ll assume for now Alex Highsmith) are your EDGE rushers. J.J. has traditionally been an end but saying he can’t come off the EDGE probably isn’t fair to him but you sure as hell aren’t dropping him into coverage. This is a basic element of the Steelers’ defense for outside linebackers. If J.J. Watt were on the field then you’ll know immediately he’s not dropping into coverage. He just doesn’t have that skill set. You could play him inside in the nickel or dime but you aren’t going to use him as your nose in base that’s for sure too. Ultimately, if I’m Watt, I go where I have a much more legitimate chance of winning a Super Bowl but that’s just me. I have no idea how strong the pull is to play with his brothers so I’ll just leave it at that.
Seven
My understanding is that the Steelers and Ben Roethlisberger have spoken about the QB’s current contract. There could be some movement as early as Tuesday but as of right now that’s all I’ve got.
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1 comment
I’m going to talk about Big Ben, at this point the entire organization is wrapped around our aging living legend. First the pros to keeping Ben, we get instant experience on how to win 10-12 games in the NFL. But at the same time showing no improvement as the season progresses and fading in the playoffs over the last decade. Pretty good but it’s not going to win a Superbowl. Now for some of the negative, the things at this stage of his career he can no longer do. Practice all week , throw the quick/ hard 10-20 yard pass, run the football this includes QB sneaks, accept blame when it’s he’s fault [this has always been there], run a hurry up offense. Yes it’s been a great ride with Ben and i can see people wanting a victory lap. I feel with the right QB and with the defense we have, we can do better. The Steeler’s have always known when to say good bye and this one ain’t easy but it’s past time. Tomlin has been running the Shady Crest of the NFL for some time now, with all the veteran days off and age excuses for practice. Wouldn’t it be refreshing to see a fired up totally prepared team. BTW 20 years of waiting for the play clock to run down to 2 seconds is enough for me. Geez that feels good to get out.