The deadline for final roster cuts came and went earlier this week, leaving us with what is the Pittsburgh Steelers’ initial 53-man roster—a fresh glimpse at the offseason that was. In the estimation of the analysts over at Pro Football Focus, it could hardly have gone any better.
“I think they’ve had a flawless offseason”, said Brad Spielberger, via the outlet’s YouTube channel. “I think it continued even into this morning”, he added, with the signing of veteran free agent CB Desmond King.
He noted that he was recently on 93.7 The Fan and was asked what one thing the team could do to improve their roster. “I’d still love to see some secondary depth maybe added to the roster”, was his response. “Oh, here comes in Desmond King, a guy we’ve loved for a very long time, can play in the slot, can play a little bit on the outside as well. I think he’s a good fit in this system, in this defense as well. It’s exactly what they needed to do”.
Spielberger added that he loved the team’s draft class, singling out second-round DL Keeanu Benton and noting that third-round TE Darnell Washington seems to be both healthy and ahead of where the Steelers thought he would be.
He also shared commentary on the left tackle position, where it appears as though third-year incumbent starter Dan Moore Jr. has temporarily held off 14th-overall draft pick Broderick Jones. He said that since everything else has gone so well, people won’t even care, and will have nothing to say about their having traded up for a tackle who won’t start immediately.
Steve Palazzolo, who led the segment, also offered praise for second-year QB Kenny Pickett, though he acknowledged it was a very small sample size during the preseason. “Looks like Pickett could be ready for a big step forward here”, he concluded.
It’s notable in this context that they only gave passing mention to such offseason additions as free agent Isaac Seumalo, who was a big element in continuing to stabilize this offensive line. The inside linebacker unit was also almost completely overhauled, as was much in the secondary and in the reserves at outside linebacker.
Truth be told, there is hardly anything that has happened this offseason that would cause one to offer much of a criticism of the Steelers. Everything seems to have gone as smoothly as possible, beyond losing rookie CB Cory Trice Jr. to injury, and he was not expected to play an immediate role anyway.
Of course, everything that has happened this year is just the build-up to the real thing, the games that actually matter. September 10, when they host the San Francisco 49ers for the regular season opener, is when we really begin to find out just how “flawless” this offseason really was.
