Welcome back to your weekly Pittsburgh Steelers mailbag. As always, we’re here for the next hour to answer whatever is on your mind. With camp over, we should be back on a regular schedule for these weekly mailbags. Appreciate your patience.
To your questions!
falconsaftey43:
Hey Alex.
Two parter.
Assuming Moore starts week 1, is there anything Jones can do in practice to “win” the starting job in practice? Or does Moore have to “lose” it?
Say Jones only plays 150 snaps as an injury fill in and tackle eligible, is that a failure on the Steeler’s part to not get more return in year 1 for the 14th overall pick? Obviously no one will care about his rookie season if he goes on to be a franchise LT, but rookie season contributions still matter to some point.
Alex: Yeah it’s pretty much the latter. Moore is going to have to struggle. I mean, Jones still has to be detailed, progress in practice, but the decision will be more about Moore having an issue than Jones just being ready. Jones isn’t going to start if Moore is holding his own.
Interesting to see how the Steelers handle things to start the season. Bosa and Garrett are ultra-tough matchups and it’s unlikely Moore will come out of there perfect. You could justify benching him for that but…what are you expecting when your OT faces two of the best in the game.
No, I don’t think it’s a failure. If Jones isn’t playing much and Moore plays well, I don’t think the focus will be on Jones not playing. As long as the team wins, everyone is happy. Though I’m sure the second Moore allows a sack, there will be calls to bench him. Want to see how much leeway he gets from the team. Minimal like Trubisky or more than that?
Fasterwilly:
Hi Alex!
Rank these 3 players by number of carries this year: Mcfarland, Heyward, and CA3.
Sorry not a question more of a demand.
Alex: Haha, I’m holding up a newspaper with today’s date as I answer this demand. Good question though. I’ll go”
1. Austin
2. McFarland
3. Heyward
And it’ll be close. But Austin is going to be involved in the jet run game. Olszewski and Sims last year combined for 21 carries last year. I can see Austin getting 20 or so. McFarland…that’s tough. He’s not a lock to make the team. If he does, his offensive value is limited. But if someone in front goes down, he’ll see some action. It really just depends on injury. Heyward will see some backfield snaps though I think he’ll block and catch more on some third downs than actually take handoffs.
David Shoff: Alex, kwon has looked pretty impressive. Is roberts pretty much locked as the starter or does kwon have a chance to over take him?
Alex: I expect a pretty heavy rotation between Cole Holcomb, Kwon Alexander, and Elandon Roberts. Holcomb probably sees the most amount of snaps of the three but I don’t know if there will be clearly defined starters.
Michael Stickings:
Hi Alex. Hard to see a spot for Dotson or Green on the 53, but also hard to see much trade potential, although I know the speculation continues (not least by Dave). But at this point, what do you think the Steelers could even get in return, given that, say, Isaiah Simmons is apparently only worth a 7th? I get that the contexts are different, but still. I assume you would unload each for a 7th and call it a day?
And one further question: What do you see as the one main piece missing on offence? Not so much in terms of a player or position, but a skill that’s missing? Is it, say, short-yardage power running? I would have said vertical speed, but obviously CA3 brings that, assuming what we’ve seen in the pre-season translates to the regular season. I suppose one thing might be the deep ball from Pickett. I hope this makes sense. Basically, what’s the one main thing on offence you don’t think they will be able to do well enough?
Alex: I’m going to write something on the topic today. You’re right, Simmons was cheap. Cheaper than I thought. Sometimes it comes down to positional demand. Simmons is a tough fit, that’s always his issue. So who was looking to fit him into their defense? Other positions, especially in the trenches, can be more defined, and that creates more demand and value. Malik Reed and Jesse Davis were traded for by this team last year and they’re obviously worse players. So someone like Dotson can still have value.
hdogg48:
Hi Alex
Do you envision Matt Canada keeping his job
after this year?
Alex: I really have no idea. This is put up or shut up for him. We’ll see. I don’t have a prediction here.
David Levesque:
Hey Alex,
Would you call OT a weakness when comparing it to other position groups across the roster? Safe to say the group is average at best when comparing it too all the teams around the league.
Thanks!
Alex: Hey David! Sorry for the late replay. Compared to the other groups, it might not be as strong. But I don’t think it’s weak. Moore has grown. Jones won’t win the job out of the gate but looks promising. And Okorafor is…fine. He’s not a liability. It’s better than last year, that’s for sure.
