The Steelers are now in their offseason after failing to reach the playoffs in 2022, coming up just a game short of sneaking in as the seventh seed. They needed help in week 18 and only got some of it, so instead they sat home and watched the playoffs with the rest of us.
On tap is figuring out how to be on the field in January and February instead of being a spectator. They started out 2-6, digging a hole that proved too deep to dig out of even if they managed to go 7-2 in the second half of the year.
Starting from the end of the regular season and leading all the way up to the beginning of the 2023 season, there are plenty of questions that need answered, starting with who will be the offensive coordinator. Which free agents will be kept? Who might be let go due to their salary? How might they tackle free agency with this new front office? We’ll try to frame the conversation in relevant ways as long as you stick with us throughout this offseason, as we have for many years.
Question: Will the Steelers have a healthy 90-man roster entering training camp?
While the Steelers are not dealing with any major ongoing injuries, they do have several players who have spent this offseason rehabbing from various ailments that required surgery. Two of their wide receivers, Allen Robinson II and Calvin Austin III, both had foot surgery last year, and worked their way up to full participation during OTAs.
The only player, I believe, who did not fully participate at any point due to injury is inside linebacker Cole Holcomb, yet another player recovering from foot surgery. Tight end Pat Freiermuth suffered some sort of minor injury that limited time during OTAs and minicamp. Both have previously said, or had it said about them, that they will be ready to go for training camp.
Then again, there was optimism, albeit not certainty, about Larry Ogunjobi last year opening training camp by hitting the ground running, and that didn’t happen. They ramped up his activity over the course of time.
Will the Steelers have to ease anybody in this year? Holcomb seems to be the most likely candidate if it’s anybody, but it’s probably not a bad idea to take that approach with anybody who is coming back from having surgery on their foot.
I may have overlooked some other injury that was previously known. But there is always the possibility of previously unknown or unreported injuries as well. It’s quite rare that nobody opens up training camp on the Active/Physically Unable to Perform List, though sometimes that’s due to conditioning rather than medical.
