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 the fifth consecutive season in which they failed to win a postseason game—a new record for the franchise since the merger. Yet again, they find themselves undergoing the exit meeting process earlier than anticipated, which means so are we.
The Steelers did arguably perform at or above expectations this year by going 9-7-1 and making the postseason at all, a reflection of just how much talent they lost during the offseason, from the majority of the offensive line to Mike Hilton, Bud Dupree, Steven Nelson, and Vince Williams—not to mention Stephon Tuitt, essentially.
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 2021 season.
Player: Chaz Green
Position: T
Experience: 5 Years
Would Chaz Green be on the Steelers’ 53-man roster if the season started today? Perhaps. A five-year veteran, a former third-round draft pick, Green has been around the block, and not in the way you’d want, as the Steelers are already his sixth team.
But they are thin at tackle right now, following the release of Zach Banner. They re-signed Chukwuma Okorafor, with Joe Haeg as their top reserve, but right now, they don’t have many tackle-capable linemen. Green is the only one among them who has experience doing it in the NFL. John Leglue is capable of playing tackle, but has only played guard in-game here.
Since 2016, Green has logged a total of 675 offensive snaps, which is obviously not a lot. He spent the 2021 season on the Steelers’ practice squad, but was elevated for two games. While he dressed, he did not play on offense in either game, though he did see four special teams snaps.
He did play over 200 snaps the year before that with the Indianapolis Colts, and his one start of the season just so happened to come against the Steelers. He had to go up against T.J. Watt, and, well, I don’t think I need to say more on that.
Green has started a total of eight games in his career, with six of those eight coming in his first two seasons. He started four games in 2017, the only other year in which he played more than 150 snaps (that being 256).
In other words, the Steelers should definitely keep their eyes open at the tackles coming out of college this year, because they can still use another one—and not just necessarily for depth. They probably won’t draft a tackle in the first round, so it’s not overly likely that a rookie would start in 2022 over Dan Moore Jr. or Chukwuma Okorafor, but it’s a position that they have multiple reasons to try to address, with the fact that Green would actually make the team right now being one of them.
