With the Steelers’ 2023 regular season underway following a disappointing year that came up just short of reaching the playoffs, it’s time to start finding out whether or not the answers to last year’s questions are on the roster, tested all throughout training camp and the preseason.
Both sides of the ball got key additions through both free agency and the draft, with new starters, including potentially rookies, amounting to half a dozen or more. The offensive line, the linebackers, and the secondary were all key targets since last year. But what will they look like?
These sorts of uncertainties are what I will look to address in our Buy or Sell series. In each installment, I will introduce a topic statement and weigh some of the arguments for either buying it (meaning that you agree with it or expect it to be true) or selling it (meaning you disagree with it or expect it to be false).
Topic Statement: Mike Tomlin will really be on the hot seat after this season if it spins out of control.
Explanation: While we know the Steelers are an organization that preaches patience, and even owner Art Rooney II has publicly stated that Mike Tomlin has a job until he doesn’t want it anymore, minds can always change. Even though the team is still 2-2, the Steelers are about as ugly a 2-2 as you can get, and it feels as though they’re operating a house of cards that can come tumbling down any moment.
Buy:
If there is anything that we should learn about what people say in front of a microphone, it is this: nothing that they say is binding. Sure, some more than others may most often mean what they say. They may even think something is true at the time that they say it. But nobody is going to tell an owner that he has to stick by something just because he said it on camera.
Mike Tomlin does not have unlimited free passes. He’s running out of excuses for his teams’ lack of tangible success. Playoff wins need to come very soon. Instead, he’s managing a team that doesn’t look like it can even record a winning record without its superstars playing with their hair on fire.
IF things spin out of control and they finish with something like a 7-10 or 6-11 record and there is clear discord in the locker room, with constant media vitriol, Rooney will have to at least listen. There is too much talent on this roster to waste it if you think your coach can’t get you to the finish line. And it seems as though he wouldn’t necessarily have to win over some of his minority owners if he were to decide to have that discussion.
Sell:
In the event that things fall apart this season, it will be an indictment of QB Kenny Pickett more than anything else. It would mean that the Steelers will have to strongly consider reviving their search for their next quarterback. So far, he is arguably the biggest issue with the team right now. He’s just not playing at the level any good team needs its quarterback to play.
And let’s not forget, Pickett was a Kevin Colbert pick. There is always another excuse in the holster. Stability is one of them. Even if Pickett is not the answer, this new front office needs to have the opportunity to try to find the solution. Continuity and all that, blah blah blah, will weigh heavily in the conversation. And Tomlin will still be here at the end of the day, no matter how badly this season ends.
