The Pittsburgh Steelers are back in the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex earlier than they had anticipated, having been ousted from the postseason in the opening round, which unfortunately marks a slight improvement from the past two seasons, during which they did not even qualify for the playoffs altogether. They have now done four seasons without securing a victory beyond regular season play.
Yet again, they find themselves undergoing the exit meeting process earlier than anticipated, which means so are we.
They did manage to go 12-4 during the regular season, and secured their first AFC North title since 2017, posting a new franchise record by opening the season with 11 consecutive wins, but of course it all fell apart after that. Their only victory after that required a 17-point comeback.
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 2020 season.
Player: Henry Mondeaux
Position: DL
Experience: 1 Years
I was somewhat surprised to learn that Henry Mondeaux actually logged 88 snaps on defense, seeing a larger workload than I anticipated, but the Steelers did weather some availability issues along the defensive line late in the season with injuries to Tyson Alualu and Chris Wormley and with Stephon Tuitt’s bout with Covid-19.
Mondeaux is a guy whom the Steelers had in training camp before, and who went on to play in the XFL last year before being added back to the 90-man roster. He initially made the practice squad, and was a player that they were protecting on a weekly basis (over Daniel McCullers), before he was called up to the 53-man roster.
The plot twist of this all is the fact that they promoted him to play on special teams. On coverage units. In fact, he finished the season with 182 snaps on special teams. He was only one of two defensive linemen who served meaningful time on other kick or punt coverage units during the 2020 season.
Obviously, he has a bit of athleticism for the position, but also understands the fundamentals of his assignments on defense, and had the trust of the coaching staff to the point that they were not concerned about asking him to play.
With Alualu and Wormley both unrestricted free agents, there is a potential opportunity for Mondeaux to move up in the pecking order, although ideally the Steelers will be able to keep both of their veteran defensive line reserves for a minimum salary, the former on a veteran qualifying contract that pays him more than is reflected on the cap.
