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: Justin Hunter
Position: Wide Receiver
Experience: 7 Years
As the regular season approached, it looked as though veteran wide receiver Justin Hunter could be in-line for a bigger role. But that was before the Steelers acquired Ryan Switzer via trade. While all of the six wide receivers who were on the roster at that time dressed for the season opener, that was only due to Vance McDonald being sidelined.
Hunter caught one pass for six yards in that game, but he would spend most of the season on the bench once again. He was a healthy scratch for the next four weeks, but the coaches gave him another opportunity as rookie wide receiver James Washington was struggling.
He dressed for three straight games, catching a total of two passes for 15 yards, both of them coming on the other side of the bye week in the second game against the Cleveland Browns. But after that, it was right back to the inactive list.
He would not dress again until six games later in the contest against the Los Angeles Chargers, where he was given some opportunities. In fact, he saw some of his best opportunities in that game, but Ben Roethlisberger struggled to connect with him, including one that should have been a touchdown.
It was such a significant miss that it forced Hunter to leave his feet to dive for the long pass, which resulted in him landing on his shoulder, injuring it. He was played on Injured Reserve after that, missing the final four games of the regular season.
The Steelers activated Eli Rogers from the Physically Unable to Perform List after that, taking over his roster spot. At the moment, it’s “hard to envision” Hunter being re-signed for yet another season after his seven receptions for 44 yards and one touchdown over two years.
