Three Lingering Questions After the Steelers Announce Their Roster

The Pittsburgh Steelers are not alone today. There are 31 other teams in the National Football League who are also still trying to form up the best opening day roster they possibly can. In the era of free agency, it’s virtually impossible for a team not to have at least one position of uncertainty, but that doesn’t ease the burden. As Omar Khan shops and wheels and deals, there are a couple of questions that still remain with this current team.

What is the End Game With Broderick Jones?

The majority of Steelers’ fans are well aware that Jones struggled big time in the week two preseason game against Buffalo. He allowed two sacks and frankly, it could have been worse. I was hard on the young man the next day but I was equally hard on the Steelers too.

Jones was asked yesterday at practice about his situation (I’ll add that he’s handled it very well), and feels like he’s playing right tackle until Troy Fautanu is ready to go. You couldn’t help but feel for Jones a bit watching the video. At it’s core, the situation is easy to explain. Dan Moore is limited to just left tackle and they like what he does there better than what Jones or Fautanu can do. They also feel better about what Fautanu offers at RT than what Jones does. So therefore, what is the end game with Jones? A first round pick is now going to be a ‘swing’ tackle? Personally I don’t think they’ve handled this well.

This Isn’t the Actual Wide Receiver Room is It?

In the time it takes me to type this, Omar Khan may have already pulled off a huge deal to acquire a viable number two receiver. The fact that he hasn’t already is concerning. The Steelers going into the season with George Pickens, Calvin Austin III, Roman Wilson, Scotty Miller and Van Jefferson is not going to scare anyone. This is essentially a group with a deep threat and four slot guys.

Can I buy the argument that Arthur Smith will use the tight ends more in the passing game? Sure, but that doesn’t mean the Steelers can get away with this particular group of wideouts all season long. In a perfect world, Van Jefferson takes the number two spot and excels beyond anything any of us have imagined. This isn’t a perfect world however and I still believe this group needs an upgrade. How much will it cost? That’s up to the Steelers.

Are They Set at Slot Cornerback?

When Thomas Graham was released yesterday, it all but meant that Beanie Bishop, Jr was going to be the Steelers’ first option at the nickel corner. As the roster is currently constructed, he is literally the only slot corner. I believe it also means that the Steelers will deploy a lot of their ‘big’ nickel with three safeties.

But I’m not convinced at all that Bishop is their ultimate guy. He did some really good things in Camp, but also missed a preseason game with an injury. Bishop is aggressive and will be more than solid in run support while being above average in zone coverage. My question is more about how well he will be in man-to-man coverage?

There are any number of guys out there who could do just as well, but are there any that would be better? That’s the question facing Khan right now.