The Steelers are now back at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, facing down a long regular season that looks a lot more promising given how things have gone leading up to it. Finishing just above .500 last year, they anticipate being able to compete with any team in the league this season with second-year QB Kenny Pickett leading the way.
They’ve done a great deal to address what they identified as their shortcomings during the offseason, which included addressing the offensive and defensive lines as well as the secondary and the inside linebacker room, which is nearly entirely different from last year. The results have been positive so far.
Even well into the regular season and beyond, there are going to be plenty of questions that need answered. When will the core rookies get to play, or even start? Is the depth sufficient where they upgraded? Can they stand toe-to-toe with the Bengals and the other top teams in the league? We’ll try to frame the conversation in relevant ways as long as you stick with us throughout the season, as we have for many years.
Question: Why didn’t CB Desmond King II see the field more for the Steelers?
For a guy with over four dozen starts and nearly 100 games played in his career, with success, you would think somebody like CB Desmond King II might find a place in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ secondary. It’s not as though their defensive backfield has exactly been All-Pro caliber.
Yet according to reports last night, the veteran is on his way out of Pittsburgh. The team intends to release him if they cannot find a trade partner, intending to sign rookie fifth-round pick Darius Rush, another cornerback, off the Kansas City Chiefs’ practice squad.
While Rush is an interesting prospect, the reality is that the Steelers could have gotten him a month and a half ago if they wanted to. The Chiefs claimed him off waivers after the Indianapolis Colts released him on August 29. Pittsburgh obviously had a higher claim than the defending Super Bowl champions.
And the Chiefs waived him on September 16. He cleared waivers. He signed to Kansas City’s practice squad on September 19. All that time Pittsburgh could have had him if they wanted him, but evidently they didn’t want him bad enough until now.
Which leads us back to King. What did the Steelers see in him, or perhaps not see, that led them to decide they would rather have Rush? This is, after all, a one-for-one move, swapping out one cornerback for another. They wouldn’t be releasing King, presumably, unless they liked Rush more.
In his time here, King played exactly one defensive snap, on which the Baltimore Ravens scored a 14-yard rushing touchdown by Justice Hill. He also played 15 special teams snaps, doing a rather mediocre job as a kick returner. With RB Anthony McFarland Jr. coming back from injury, they don’t need King for that anymore, either. And so he’s on his way out. But why? Why didn’t it work out?
