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: Which non-rookie players do you want to see more of in 2018?
Inspired by an article that I saw from Pro Football Focus in which was listed players from around the league that people were hoping to get a better look at this season, I thought it might be fun to do a Steelers-centric version of that idea and submit it to the community for discussion.
Basically, we’re talking about players who have already been on the team, in other words not rookies. Players who for one reason or another did not play as big of a role than perhaps they could have for should have. Whether or was injuries or people in front of them or coaching and personnel decisions, there are usually players that at least some people believe are not getting the opportunity they need to show their potential.
This actually is not as wide of a discussion as it might have been several years ago because the Steelers have been better, or at least more active, in terms of getting their young players on the field faster. There has been at least one rookie starter for a few years running now, actually going back to at least 2010 if you include Marcus Gilbert in 2011, who started after Willie Colon was injured in the season opener.
Still, there are younger players who didn’t get on the field as much as I’m sure they would have liked to. Jerald Hawkins would be one name to consider here but he has already been shelved for the season due to injury.
One player coming back from injury is Keion Adams, who spent his rookie season on injured reserve. He should have an opportunity to at least serve as a backup this year.
I’m guessing the most popular answer will be Cameron Sutton, who played in the second half of the season including making a start, but other names such as James Conner, Brian Allen, Joshua Dobbs, even Javon Hargrave spring to mind.
