Generally speaking, if we’re writing about Adam Schein, it’s because he’s railing against the Pittsburgh Steelers for something. Their offense is too weak. Mike Tomlin isn’t doing a good enough job. Why are their logos on just one side of their helmets? You get the idea.
But in a rare break from tradition, Schein praised the Steelers’ pending acquisition of Los Angeles’ Rams wide receiver Allen Robinson, believing it to be a great fit for both sides.
“I love this trade and I need to say that and show you these stats because Robinson has been a phenomenal receiver,” Schein said on his show Tuesday. “By the way, played with awful quarterbacks in Jacksonville, awful quarterbacks in Chicago.”
Across nine seasons, Robinson has caught 528 passes for over 6,700 yards and 43 touchdowns, including a league-leading 14 of them back in 2015 with Jacksonville. As Schein notes, he generally played with struggling quarterbacks be it Blake Bortles in Jacksonville or Nick Foles, Mitch Trubisky, and Andy Dalton in Chicago. Even last year in Los Angeles with Matthew Stafford, he was stuck in a miserable offense, the 27th-ranked scoring unit, and Robinson had his season cut short by a foot injury.
He won’t be a star in Pittsburgh but a versatile receiver who could pick up plenty of snaps in the slot. And while his numbers the last two years have been mediocre, his tape still showed promise. With a growing offense in experience and talent, Schein believes Pittsburgh could make a run in 2023.
“I think the Steelers with their notable offseason additions, especially on defense, I’m telling you right here, right now, they’re gonna be a sleeper team,” he said. “Don’t sleep on the Pittsburgh Steelers when it comes to being a playoff team in 2023.”
The Steelers narrowly missed out on the playoffs a year ago, storming back into the conversation the second half of the season to end the year 9-8. Had Joe Flacco and the New York Jets beat Skylar Thompson in the Week 18 finale, Pittsburgh would’ve been the 7th seed and advanced to Wild Card weekend. Since then, GM Omar Khan has been as busy as any in football, trading, signing, and claiming players to improve the roster on offense, defense, and special teams.
If the offense can be even just average next year with a sturdy defense and a team that just finds a way to win, Pittsburgh will have good odds to make their playoff return next season. And they evidently have a big cheerleader in Schein, who may not be waving his Terrible Towel this fall but is certainly a believer.
