The Pittsburgh Steelers are out of Latrobe and back at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, also referred to as the South Side Facility. We are already into the regular season, where everything is magnified and, you know, actually counts. The team is working through the highs and lows and dramas that go through a typical Steelers season.
How are the rookies performing? What about the players that the team signed in free agency? Who is missing time with injuries, and when are they going to be back? What are the coaches saying about what they are going to do this season that might be different from how it was a year ago?
These are the sorts of questions among many others that we have been exploring on a daily basis and will continue to do so. Football has become a year-round pastime and there is always a question to be asked, though there is rarely a concrete answer, as I’ve learned in my years of doing this.
Question: What is the position group that you are most excited about seeing or learning more about at the Combine?
We’re deep into February now, which means we’re getting closer and closer to the start of the 2019 league year in the NFL. But before we get there, we have the NFL Scouting Combine, taking place this week, where representatives from every team gather to get a first-hand look at some of the top draft prospects for the 2019 NFL Draft in a couple months from now.
The Steelers will have their highest draft picks since 2013, the last time they missed the postseason, as they did in 2018, even though they finished with one of the best records of non-playoff teams at 9-6-1. That puts them ever so slightly into more desirable striking distance for some of their favorite prospects in the first round.
As has become a perennial tradition, the Steelers’ top two needs heading into the draft are at cornerback and inside linebacker, but wide receiver is expected to be added to the list as well provided that they successfully trade Antonio Brown away, which seems exceedingly likely.
These are pretty much certainly going to be the top three answers in response to this question, since they are the positions that would figure to most benefit the Steelers, but there are many draftniks here as well who appreciate the process for what it is, regardless of where their favorite prospects end up.
Which groups do you think are particularly strong or have something to prove? Which do you think there isn’t enough information out there about in terms of the body of work involved? Which of the groups do you see as lacking top talent or depth that you would like to see proven wrong?
