Good Monday to you Steelers fans.
No offensive line in the National Football League was together more than the five guys in Black and Gold. When the 2022 season ended, most would suggest that the arrow was pointed in a very favorable direction for the unit despite some discussion that “upgrades” could happen. With Andy Weidl, the assistant GM on board, it should probably not come as a surprise that the two upgrades the team has signed both have a history with him. Both Nate Herbig and Isaac Seumalo spent time in Philadelphia. Seumalo, the most recent signee, just started all 20 games for the NFC Champion Eagles. With him, it seems as a 100% certainty that he will be a ‘plug and play’ starter. The addition of these two guys means that will be significant “dancing” if you will, in regards to who plays and who doesn’t. The best and most consistent player on the O-Line last season was right guard James Daniels. While Daniels does have center experience, will the Steelers really want to move him? Mason Cole, the starter at center last year, was better than most thought going in. But… do the Steelers feel like moving Daniels to center is an upgrade while losing nothing with Seumalo at right guard? This is what we’ll be waiting to see as the spring and summer work themselves out. Also, I have to believe that OT is absolutely on the board for pick #17 for the Steelers. I might not have thought this a week ago but it’s clear to me they want to upgrade this line.
Tweet of the Day… Don’t be a bit surprised if this guy is the choice at 17. He checks a ton of boxes.
Darnell Wright said that he believes he’s a “Top-3” tackle in this year’s NFL Draft class on our recent podcast together.
Wright played 507 pass blocking snaps for the Volunteers last season.
He didn’t allow a SINGLE sack.
Can’t WAIT to see where he goes on Draft night 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Xi8My3TNFz
— Adam Breneman (@AdamBreneman81) March 18, 2023
To-Do List
Even after the recent flurry of free agent activity, there remains much to do for the Steelers. At the top of that list has to be Terrell Edmunds and to a lesser degree, getting an extension for Alex Highmsith. While the Steelers have added two very solid linebackers in Cole Holcomb and Elandon Roberts, they still lack a LB that can truly cover in man to man situations. That makes getting Edmunds back in the fold even more crucial. His ability to play in the box, cover and support the run is huge. As for Hightsmith, the Steelers know if he has another season like 2022 he’s gone. They won’t be able to pay him for the simple reason that they’ve already got so much tied up on defense. Getting an extension isn’t as easy as it sounds though. Highsmith and his agent know the same things the Steelers do and he won’t sign for peanuts.
The Biggest Unknown
Calvin Austin III, the speedster from Memphis drafted last year, is easily the biggest unknown right now for the Steelers. They have absolutely no idea what he will do when the 2023 season rolls around. Any Steelers’ fan can be forgiven for having doubts. The Dri Archer experiment is still very fresh in a lot of minds, but I’m on the optimistic side of this because CAIII is a different player. Not only is he fast but he also has lateral quickness that Archer did not. Hopefully this works out because if it doesn’t, the Steelers will be hurting big time in the slot.
Prospect Profiles
We’ve started our NFL Draft Coverage here at SCB and the first of our Position Profiles is out. We’ve made the decision that rather than make extensive profiles of each player, we are doing smaller ones and grouping them by position. This allows us to easier update information as Pro Days and the Combine provide more info.
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