Teams Pittsburgh Steelers - The Steel Curtain

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14. OT Broderick Jones
32. CB Joey Porter Jr
49. DT Keeanu Benton
93. TE Darnell Washington
132. EDGE Nick Herbig
241. CB Corey Trice
251. OT Spencer Anderson

Very solid draft for us overall. Has been a good off season for Khan and the crew.
Genuinely the most excited I have been to see what the Steelers produce in an upcoming season. There’s a lot to be excited about I feel. On the verge of last season I made the comment in here that the two players we could least afford to lose or have injured were Watt and Najee. It ended up both got injured either late pre season (Najee foot, Watt Knee) or Week 1 (Watt Pec). Najee’s production was sub standard early-I’d say due to the lingering effects of said foot injury, but our run game got going down the stretch with him and Warren forming a nice 1-2 punch. With more help on the OL coming in and Najee hopefully fully healthy this season and Warren another year in the system I’m hoping we establish the run early and often in games and get back to that old Steeler football. And our record without Watt speaks for itself. Arguably the most valuable player on the field for any team outside of the QBs.
Pickett is a great unknown for me. His stats last season didn’t read fantastic but also didn’t read the full picture. There were plenty of IT factor moments I felt, moments such as the game winning drives v Ravens & Raiders. He also has some go in him which was great to see from a young QB. Moments such as giving it back to the Bills D Lineman who hit him low after a pass, staying in the pocket delivering a strike over the middle to a receiver v the Jets-Getting sat on his arse from the play only to get up laughing at the DL just to name a couple of moments that stand out. If he has that year 2 leap we could really threaten some of these teams in the Conference with the way our defence stands up and some of the weapons he has at his disposal. DJ, Pickens, Najee, Warren, Austin (2nd year WR who missed all of his rookie year due to injury), Robinson, Freiermuth & Washington are a great young supporting cast to work with.
The fixture for our upcoming season reads as follows
Home (9) Ravens, Bengals, Browns, Jags, Titans, Cards, 9ers, Pats & Packers
Away (8) Ravens, Bengals, Browns, Texans, Colts, Rams, Seahawks & Raiders
Not exactly a murderers row of QBs or opponents in general.
Based on the above our floor should be 9-10 wins. 12 wins is very possible too. Maybe I’m being overly optimistic, but if you aren’t at this stage of the season I’d question your loyalty 😄
 
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Mitch Trubisky is signing a two-year extension with the Steelers, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

Trubisky signed a two-year contract last offseason and was scheduled for a $10 million cap hit in 2023. This reportedly lowers the cap charge, and it may also give him a degree of security beyond the upcoming season (or not... it depends on what the details are). The Steelers recently re-signed Mason Rudolph, who might technically get a chance to challenge Trubisky for the second spot on the depth chart but will be a big underdog in that competition. Kenny Pickett enters spring practices as the unquestioned starter, though his rookie-year performance suggests he could land on the hot seat quickly if things don't go well in September.
 

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Steelers OC Matt Canada said of the Steelers' offensive approach for 2023, "We want to run the ball, we want to be physical, and we want to be a good team that can throw the ball down field."​

In an article published at The Athletic, Canada waxed poetic about the Steelers' desire to run the ball this season. He noted that the Steelers aren't going to "run it every play," but it doesn't sound like there are any plans to let Kenny Pickett loose in his second season at the helm. Canada specifically mentioned the Steelers' identity as being what we saw in the team's final nine games of last season when they had a pass rate over expected of negative seven percent. The Steelers haven't been shy about handing the ball off to Najee Harris since drafting him 24th overall in 2021, but the former Alabama prospect has averaged just 3.9 YPC for his career and ranks among the league's worst in explosive runs. The Steelers' desire to establish it should bode well for Harris and backup Jaylen Warren from a fantasy perspective and could turn Warren into a sneaky late-round pick in drafts.
 
GG.exe said:
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GP makes extraordinary catches routinely. The Pickett to Pickens connection is probably the single greatest thing I am looking forward to seeing the Steelers do this season. I just hope Canada utilises GP enough! He has amazing body control and sticky hands, a great weapon to have in Pitt
 
BuddysBuddy23 said:
GP makes extraordinary catches routinely. The Pickett to Pickens connection is probably the single greatest thing I am looking forward to seeing the Steelers do this season. I just hope Canada utilises GP enough! He has amazing body control and sticky hands, a great weapon to have in Pitt
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Think ita gonna still be run heavy with play action mediun-deep, otherwise drop backs will be short-medium.
 
BuddysBuddy23 said:
GP makes extraordinary catches routinely. The Pickett to Pickens connection is probably the single greatest thing I am looking forward to seeing the Steelers do this season. I just hope Canada utilises GP enough! He has amazing body control and sticky hands, a great weapon to have in Pitt
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It’s a good thing he can do the extraordinary go and get it catch cos for some reason with his great speed he can struggle at times to get separation.

Steelers going to continue pound the ground game to open up play action passing so not sure their will be enough volume to see Pickens make then next step.
 
Only Pre Season so won’t get carried away with much here but I liked what I seen from the outset of our team today. Pickett on the opening drive looked a much better QB than last season in the sense that he didn’t just go to his first option or take off and run when the pocket broke down. A great drive capped off with a nice TD to Pickens. Our starters looked sharp on their only possession (as they should against what I could tell was majority a backup Bucs D).
In terms of rookies I liked what I seen from Austin, Nick Herbig & Benton (Jones blocked well too majority of the game). We were missing all of Watt, Cam, Pat Pete, JPJ, Ogunjobi, Minkah (and maybe more?) on D so plenty to come in there but I thought our Defence played well from start to finish (Again, against pretty much a second string offence too). I liked the thump that Kwon Alexander gave us in the middle of the field with a couple big stops, could be a solid signing. On to next week
 
The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly reports Calvin Austin “probably had the most eye-opening camp of (any Steelers receiver).”

Kaboly’s assessment comes from an article where he also labels George Pickens a camp winner and barely mentions Allen Robinson. “To his credit, Austin took a potential bit role and has expanded it into a place where OC Matt Canada has to be thinking about using him more,” Kaboly observed. “It has come from more than the slot.” It’s not the first time Austin has drawn summer praise. At this point, he looks like something of a favorite in the slot, which could force declining veteran Robinson out of three-receiver sets.
 

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A11dAtP0w3R said:
The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly reports Calvin Austin “probably had the most eye-opening camp of (any Steelers receiver).”

Kaboly’s assessment comes from an article where he also labels George Pickens a camp winner and barely mentions Allen Robinson. “To his credit, Austin took a potential bit role and has expanded it into a place where OC Matt Canada has to be thinking about using him more,” Kaboly observed. “It has come from more than the slot.” It’s not the first time Austin has drawn summer praise. At this point, he looks like something of a favorite in the slot, which could force declining veteran Robinson out of three-receiver sets.
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Excited to see what Austin can do this season. Opens up our downfield passing game immensely. Has gotten out the back numerous times in camp. Here’s hoping Matt Canada utilises his ability often enough. I think we’ll be a run first team still though in saying all that (And from what I seen Najee did not look good in camp!)😳
 
Keen to see how we perform tomorrow against a perennial AFC contender in the Bills. It looks like we will be starting our first team defence (unsure how long for) and Kenny & the boys will be given a few more series to build on the back of a great first and only drive last week v the Bucs on offence. Main thing I’m hoping for out of the game is to come away with no injuries. After that everything is aces, but I wouldn’t mind seeing the offence continue to click against a tough Bills D. Last year when we played them (In Pickett’s first start) we were totally outplayed in all areas
 
Another pre season game, another positive showing overall. Both our starting offense/defense only played the two series (Compared to the Bills three) where we outscored them 14-0 in this period.
Kenny and the starting offense looked good again, Warren showed great burst on his 62 yard TD and as I mentioned above I think there needs to be serious conversations about upping his usage moving forward, good things happen when he touches the ball. Austin is as advertised throughout camp. A long reception last week, followed up with a 50+ yard punt return this morning. He gives our offense a different way of attacking defenses. Highsmith picked up where he left off last season, a nice sack on a scrambling Allen where he never gave up on the play and he even managed to break a pass up on Diggs in coverage. Nick Herbig continues to impress. Only small, but has a big motor and a very quick first step. Recorded a strip sack and a TFL. Reminds me of Nolan Smith for the Eagles who was highly touted and went late in the first round in this years same draft. Only negative out of the game would have to be yet again Kendrick Green. I just don't see how he makes the 53 but apparently we have no other options at backup C? If he isn't giving away penalties he is snapping the ball anywhere but to his QB. I think we came out of todays matchup unscathed? Which is the main thing. A quick turnaround as we travel to Atlanta Friday to wrap up what I believe has been a successful camp and start to pre season
 
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Only preseason but Pickett looks to have improved a fair bit. Looks calm and decisive.

Agree with BuddysBuddy23 on Warren. I don't expect him to get as many touches but it should be a 40/60 split with Harris. Similar to how the Cowboys used Pollard last year with Zeke.
 
A11dAtP0w3R said:
Only preseason but Pickett looks to have improved a fair bit. Looks calm and decisive.

Agree with BuddysBuddy23 on Warren. I don't expect him to get as many touches but it should be a 40/60 split with Harris. Similar to how the Cowboys used Pollard last year with Zeke.
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Agreed. In camp I read he went 22 TDs 1 INT (And the INT went through a receivers hands). Now it’s only camp but when you see how publicised the interceptions have been for the likes of Dak and everyone’s darling Purdy it gives you hope (Which is all us fans want this time of year). He added some muscle to his frame and has been putting in a ton of work. We’ll go as far as he can take us. I hope he does well. Not just because I’m a Steelers fan, but his had a lot of knockers these past 18 months, it’d be fantastic to see him turn in to the next great Steelers QB and put those same knockers back in their place. Everyone’s so quick to judge young talent, I’m sure the same people will write off Young/Stroud 2 minutes into their careers too
 
Pittsburgh are once again expected to trot out their starters today against the Falcons (Who are not suiting up their starters). I don’t like this decision. We have had a very good camp, and on the few drives we have seen from our starters we have scored TDs on all of them in the opening two pre season games, as well as our defensive starters holding the Bills scoreless on 3 drives. I think the risk far outweighs the reward here playing our starters for a 3rd straight pre season game, no matter how many snaps/drives they get. From memory the third pre season game last year was where Johnson hurt his shoulder and Watt hurt his knee (which he ended up having a clean out on whilst he was out with his pec injury).
If we have some nice drives on offence and stop Atlantas on defence it matters little, but if we have star players go down it matters quite a bit. Preying for a clean bill of health if indeed we do send our starters out there today🙏🏼
 
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