The Pittsburgh Steelers have a major set challenges facing them for the offseason of 2019 after they managed to miss the postseason for the first time in five years. The failure has been taken especially grievously because of the fact that the team was in position to control their own fate even for homefield advantage with six games remaining before dropping four games.
And so they find themselves getting the exit meeting process underway at least two weeks earlier than they have had to in years, since they have made it to at least the Divisional Round since 2015. Hopefully they used those extra two weeks with purpose.
While we might not know all the details about what goes on between Head Coach Mike Tomlin and his players during these exit meetings, we do know how we would conduct those meetings if they were let up to us. So here are the Depot’s exit meetings for the Steelers’ roster following the 2018 season.
Player: Stephon Tuitt
Position: Defensive End
Experience: 5 Years
There’s nothing that can hinder a player’s popularity more than getting paid and not having a great season immediately after. That is what happened to Stephon Tuitt in 2017, who had just gotten a very big extension before the season started only to suffer a significant injury two plays into the opener.
Tuitt dealt with some injuries again this past season, missing two games, but he returned to look much closer to the player he is expected to be in 2018, registering 45 tackles with five and a half sacks. That included a career-high 20 quarterback hits, which is a better indication of the increased level of success that he had as a pass rusher.
He also tends to be good for close to double-digit tackles for loss, making plays in the backfield, but something that has always been a part of his game has been putting himself in position to make plays while failing to complete them. that wasn’t as big of an issue this past season, so hopefully he can continue to build on the strides that he made there.
Another area that is worth talking about is the fact that he managed to register four batted passes, which is something that had been a bigger part of the profile for Steelers defensive linemen in the past but has seemed to become less of a focus.
Still, he hasn’t put up the Pro Bowl-level numbers that are expected of him, so as always, that will be on the agenda for Tuitt as he enters his sixth season. Hopefully he can stay healthy for an entire season, which he has not done since he was a rookie, before he was a full-time starter.
