The journey toward Super Bowl LII ended far too prematurely for the Pittsburgh Steelers, sending them into offseason mode before we were ready for it. But we are in it now, and are ready to move on, through the Combine, through free agency, through the draft, into OTAs, and beyond.
We have asked and answered a lot of questions over the years and will continue to do so, and at the moment, there seem to be a ton of questions that need answering. A surprise early exit in the postseason will do that to you though, especially when it happens in the way it did.
You can rest assured that we have the questions, and we will be monitoring developments all throughout the offseason process, all the way down to Latrobe. Pending free agents, possible veteran roster cuts, contract extensions, pre-draft visits, pro days, all of it will have its place when the time arises.
Question: What would you like to hear from Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert today at the Combine?
Kevin Colbert fans (yes, they are out there) know that the offseason is his time to shine. Typically, you don’t hear from general managers from any team much during the season, barring a changing of the guard, like we saw in Cleveland, or if something significant happens. The chatter comes in the offseason, when their real work is being done, assembling a 53-man roster.
So the period from the end of the playoffs through the draft, chiefly is Colbert’s opportunity to speak—whether he enjoys it or not—and one of those opportunities is going to come today, as he is scheduled to be among several personnel members of various teams to speak at the Combine, as he often does, on a number of topics.
You can expect that he will give a run-down of the Steelers’ preliminary evaluations of this draft class and where he thinks that the strengths and weaknesses reside, relative to positions, and these do often correlate to some degree with the players that the team ends up drafting.
It would be the upset of the day if he were able to make it through his time at the podium without being asked multiple questions about the presumed ongoing negotiations with the team’s top running back, Le’Veon Bell, who generally is an All-Pro when he is healthy.
We have actually already gotten to hear from Colbert once or twice this offseason, so we do have some feel for where he is in terms of his thinking regarding this upcoming season and what needs to be changed. He said, for example, that he felt the run defense lacked aggression while the pass defense was overly aggressive.
But if there is one thing that you would like to hear Colbert say, or at least one topic that you would like him to address during his time in front of the cameras later today, what would it be?
