Former Pittsburgh Steelers RB and current team scout Merril Hoge was on the First and Goal segment of the Zach Gelb Show with Zach Gelb on CBS Sports Radio on Tuesday night. Hoge was complimentary of Pittsburgh’s young core, telling Gelb that it’s “rare” to have the blend of youth and talent that the Steelers do, particularly on offense.
“The one thing that you need to emphasize is that they’re all growing together. Pickens, Pickett, Freiermuth, Najee, is there anybody I just mentioned there going into their fourth year? No.,” Hoge said. “They’re young people and they’re going to get better. They haven’t even hit their prime. They’re still growing together and learning this game together, which is a real value too, quite honestly. You’re rare to get that young of a group, that talented of a group, that are building and working and growing together.”
With Pickett and Pickens entering Year Two and Harris and Freiermuth Year Three, they really haven’t played all that much football in comparison to some of their peers across the league. And yet, they’re going to be among the guys who carry this Steelers offense and make it one that can help the team make a deep playoff run.
In the preseason, we’ve seen growth out of Pickett, Pickens and Freiermuth, with Harris not getting as much run in order to protect him from injury. When the regular season starts though, I fully expect Harris to show why the Steelers spent a first-round pick on him in 2021. If he doesn’t, the team has Jaylen Warren waiting in the wings for a potentially bigger role, but I think this is the year Harris can really shine.
With a group this talented and young, the Steelers made sure to add complementary pieces in free agency and via trade to help make it a group that can win now. Adding Isaac Seumalo to shore up the offensive line was huge, getting one of the best guards in the league and a veteran to help lead the offensive line.
He’s been getting praised across the board for his leadership. They also added Allen Robinson III to give themselves a legitimate weapon in the slot, someone who won’t put up gaudy numbers but will be a reliable weapon on third down and a security blanket for Pickett.
This is the year the Steelers need to show they can win in the postseason. It’s a bit of a tall ask for a second-year quarterback, but Pickett has looked good throughout training camp and the preseason and his desire to win and be great has been praised by Omar Khan. It’s something that can set him apart from other young quarterbacks, and now that’s experienced being a starter in the NFL, it’s time for him and the rest of the offense to kick things up a notch.
This is a group that has the potential to be special, and this year is the first step to showing it. The rookie growing pains are out of the way, and it’s a group that’s comfortable in Pittsburgh’s offense. They have to show they can compete with the best of the AFC, and if they can do it this year, when they do hit their prime, they’ll be a really dangerous group.
