Welcome back to your weekly Pittsburgh Steelers mailbag. As always, we’re here for the next hour answering whatever is on your mind. The first one since the draft – excited to here what you have to ask and say.
To your questions!
gorillagogo:
Hi Alex. Thanks for all your great work leading up to the draft.
How do you see snaps and responsibilities being divided up among Queen, Roberts, Wilson and Holcomb (assuming he recovers well)?
Alex: Appreciate that! Yeah a lot depends on Holcomb and his recovery.
Queen – Green dot, three-down player. He’s going to be the all-situations linebacker
Roberts – Definitely in base to begin the year. Probably opens the year in nickel, too, as Wilson is evaluated and eased in.
Wilson – Probably a true backup to begin the year unless he crushes the summer (and he might). Could see him work into nickel packages by the first month. But gotta get him in camp and see
Holcomb – I’m not sure. When he does play, he may have some rotation with Roberts. Every other series, perhaps. It’s tough to say.
Jeremy: Hey Alex! I am still pumped up from another dream draft. A lot of people are pumping up Roman Wilson’s physicality and blocking. Even comparing him to Hines Ward. I am worried that his blocking could more closely resemble Gunner Olszewski. Tons of effort, not enough sand. How do you see it?
Alex: Yeah I don’t think he’s Ward. I’ve seen the comps, too. That’s too strong. He’s not as thickly built or as physical. A little Gunner like but probably better. He’s effort, all-in, selfless teammate. But he’s definitely not Ward. It’s that Gunner/Ryan Switzer sort of vibe to him. But the good news is if you’re a high-effort blocker, you’re probably going to at least be decent at it.
Peter-Petersen:
Hi Alex,
is it possible that we’ll see some slot WR play from Arthur Smith? I know he hasn’t done that much yet, but people and the way they view things could change. Especially with a fast run blocking guy like Roman Wilson and they way Michigan played a little bit the way I’d expect Smith to run his offense.
Alex: Some, sure. It won’t be the league-low 17 percent they ran last year, especially after drafting Roman Wilson. It won’t be as much 11 personnel as Pittsburgh’s had in the past, one of the higher rates in the league. Something in the middle, most likely. A blend between the two. So yeah, they will use it.
BananasFoster: Alex- Great draft on paper. Let’s see how it translates to the field. Given the past two drafts now, and the supposed success of each, do you think there is added pressure on MT to produce real results? For instance this year, if one and done in the playoffs again what does that mean? And next year? At some point it’s not the players if you catch my drift?
Alex: I don’t think the draft classes create the pressure. I just see the team’s standard and Pittsburgh not winning a playoff game since 2016 as the pressure-makers. They’re all frustrated in that building.
But assuming Tomlin receives an extension later this year before Week One, he’s not getting fired after 2024. Rooney’s not going to pay him all that money to not coach for him. It took forever for the team to pull the plug on Canada, the most obvious “fire this guy” candidate if there’s been one.
James Cowan:
Hi Alex,
Great work over the draft by the whole team!
Could Rodney Williams play gunner?
Alex: Thanks James! Williams is athletic, a former wide receiver, but gunner is too rich. He’d be on of the core blockers on the punt team. That’s what he did in 2023. One of the guards or ends/tackles.
SoCal now Central PA Steeler: Hey Alex, It seems like the Steelers tried to get Aiyuk and or Deebo but didn’t want to pay Lynch’s price. They likely also inquired about Sutton and Denver’s still claiming that he’s not available.
Now we’re seeing the speculation about Metcalf which wouldn’t likely happen until June 1 but again that’s just speculation.
What do you think of bringing in Michael Thomas to play outside next to Pickens? Seems like he’d be a perfect fit for Artie’s system on a one or two year deal.
Alex: Eh, I think he’s pretty washed. He’s 31, hardly played the past four seasons, and isn’t very dynamic. I’d rather have a DJ Chark type than him.
Brian Tollini:
Any other darkhorse names you could see the Steelers going after at WR on the trade block? Christian, Watson, Allen Lazard?
Do you think their best option is just signing DJ Chark and not using draft capital?
Alex: I’m pretty tired of all the speculating. I don’t think the Packers are dealing Watson and I don’t want Lazard. Chark or Sutton are the two who make the most sense to me. Just going to wait and see.
Aeronius D. McCoy:
What’s your prediction for the starting OL wk1? I’m gonna be unpopular and say Moore starts at LT a few weeks before Fautanu’s ready.
I guess the real/follow-up question is: B Jones and Fautanu, which one’s LT and which one’s RT?
Alex: Fair. I don’t want to count Moore out. But they keep drafting tackles, man, eventually he’s going to lose his job, right? The beat writers are saying RT so I’ll go:
LT – Jones
LG – Seumalo
C – Frazier
RG – Daniels
RT – Fautanu
RASTA:
Hey Alex – many thanks as always for being here.
Please humor me and lmk, besides being trade-bait, what would the Steelers benefit financially if they no longer needed Moore or Herbig on the 53?
Have a brilliant upcoming weekend!
GO STEELERS!!
Alex: Good question but better one for Dave. Moore is one his rookie deal. For a 4th rounder especially, it’s creating very little savings. Herbig would basically be his base salary of $4 million prior to roster displacement. So more like $3 million.
