SCB Steelers Quick Hitters: The ‘Faulkner Files’ Edition

Good Wednesday to you Steelers fans.

It wasn’t much of a surprise this week to see the Steelers have retained the services of Eddie Faulkner as their Running Backs Coach. As most of you know when Matt Canada was fired Faulker and QB Coach Mike Sullivan were named Co-Offensive Coordinators with Faulkner doing much of the game-planning with Sullivan who would then call the plays. Faulkner is well-liked by the team and especially the guys in the running back room. I can’t argue too much about the decision as both Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren have been impressive the last couple of years. I am curious however to see how Harris shows up this spring and in Training Camp. I’m a firm believer that he needs to drop 15-20 pounds in order to be more explosive similarly to what Le’Veon Bell did in his career. Mike Tomlin and Faulkner may like Harris carrying the extra weight so I could be way off but it just seems like that’s the direction they’d want Harris to go. Either way, bringing back Faulkner is a solid move.

The First Round of Cuts

The Steelers don’t typically move as quickly as they did this week when it comes to cutting guys loose but I do believe there was some reason behind this. In the cases of Mitchell Trubisky and Pressley Harvin III I believe they were let go quickly as a sign of respect. The Steelers appreciated the professionalism both players demonstrated and wanted to put them out there in order to get a fresh start on finding new teams. In the case of Chuks Okorafor, I’m less certain as to this early release. You’ll recall that he was benched halfway through the season because of his play but also because of his criticism of the coaching in a loss. This criticism was on the sidelines as the game wound down. I firmly believe that a guy with his experience and athleticism could have easily gotten the Steelers a late round draft pick in a trade but they didn’t even bother. That tells me there was probably more to this story than we know.

Our Annual Blitzies!

Every year on the SCB Steelers Podcast presented by DEK Roofing Inc we present our annual Blitzie Awards! These awards are for numerous things related to our Steelers. They include the usual MVP, Best Rookie etc but they also feature some off the wall stuff too. Don’t miss it! Tomorrow at 10pm on our YouTube channel!

Fields vs Pickett

Go ahead. Trade for Justin Fields. You’ll give up draft capital, have to pay him $23 million in year five and you’re getting a guy who averages almost two turnovers per game. Stay with Pickett and you’re getting a guy who takes care of the ball, but doesn’t push it downfield and is clearly limited in what he can do. I’d prefer to build my offensive and defensive lines and address the QB situation next year.