Welcome back to your weekly Pittsburgh Steelers mailbag. As always, we’re here for the next hour to answer whatever is on your mind.
To your questions!
usnbik: Is this really the WR group that we are going to go into the season with?
Alex: I hope not. I still expect someone to be added. I don’t know who, when, or how, but I think someone else is brought in. Mike Tomlin and Omar Khan have mentioned being opened to add which I know can be viewed as coach/GM-speak but they were unsolicited comments. They said that without being asked.
But a trade requires a trade partner. And the options of names they could acquire are dwindling.
Brian Tollini:
Hey Alex!
Call your shot. Sure, this is a pretty tough one, but give me on name currently not on the Steelers 90-player roster that will be on the final 53.
Alex: Yeah that would be one heck of a shot-call. I hadn’t given too many outside names lots of thought. I’ve said Courtland Sutton has been the team’s most likely target if they trade for any receiver. Denver has reasons to trade him (Sutton unhappy, wants contract, Broncos rebuilding) and there’s plenty of puzzle pieces that fit for Pittsburgh.
Talyn Scarbrough:
The WR group is really light outside of GP.
Who do you think would be top trade candidates (outside of the 49ers and Courtland Sutton)? I think Sutton has a chance but 49ers aren’t trading their WRs this year.
Alex: We’ve really covered all the potential names. The 49ers names are probably off the board. Aiyuk getting moved seems unlikely and they just extended Jennings. Sutton still makes the most sense. I don’t expect DK Metcalf to be moved. And Darius Slayton seems like he’s staying with the Giants on a tweaked deal.
Maybe more/new names come up in camp. But right now, that’s sorta the list. It’s getting short.
Sdale: Alex, do you expect the Steelers to add a slot corner vet, or do you think the team believes it has “that guy” on the roster already? Do they wait for training camp cuts, or try to find someone earlier so they can get the system before the season starts? I’m sure they would like to, but is that guy out there right now?
Alex: I think they do. A veteran in there. Not saying he would be guaranteed to win a job but it can’t be just Beanie Bishop and Josiah Scott. There’s gotta be more in that mix. If it’s an ex-Steeler, they’ll catch up pretty quickly so a signing wouldn’t have to happen so soon. A Sutton (though legal/NFL punishment looms) or Peterson/Sullivan.
Ideally, if it’s someone truly new, you add them sooner. But options are thin right now. You may have to add on the fly. Kwon Alexander wasn’t a Steeler until early camp last year. They signed Desmond King at the start of the year (though that didn’t work out because, in part, King wasn’t picking up the system).
Canadastan: Let’s talk special teams! Who are this team’s gunners in punt coverage week one?
Alex: Ha, great question. It’s wide open. I’ve written and speculated about it before. Darius Rush and Cory Trice Jr. should have real chances to claim those jobs. Rush was a good gunner at South Carolina and even did it his last year despite starting at corner. Trice’s size and athleticism gives him the right skillset. I can see rookie Ryan Watts being given a chance with his length, size, and hitting ability. WR Dez Fitzpatrick made the PS because of his gunner/coverage work last summer. Don’t count him out as a No. 5 wide receiver on this team.
Mark: Hearing any names for the Steelers next play-by-play announcer? Rob King seemed like the rumor several months ago, but I’m surprised we haven’t heard more.
Alex: I hadn’t heard much but wasn’t seeking out the info either. You’re right King seems like the favorite. He just filled in for Greg Brown to do play-by-play for a recent Pirates game, replaced the late Stan Savran for Steelers.com and their one-on-one interviews, and obviously knows the team and the broadcasting world well. I know they were also taking applications for the job a month or two ago so they’re casting a wide net. It could be someone from out of market. But King feels like a favorite.
Jeremy: Hey Alex. I am going to go for a 2-fer today, but the first question can be a really short answer. I love the work Clayton Eckert is doing, but from the beginning it reads very much like Dave Bryan to me. Is Clayton Dave, or did Dave help him set up the format, or just a coincidence, or am I crazy?
On a more serious note, assume the standard 2 WR set has Pickens and Roman Wilson on the field. Who is the X and who is the Z? Can/should Pickens be the X to allow Roman to line up off line more often?
Alex: Ha, Clayton and Dave are two different people. I promise. I think they’re just wired in the same and best possible way.
That’s a good question on X-Z. Pickens is the natural Z but all these guys will shift around. It’s less static than it used to be. But they’re trying to figure out that second receiver spot. I’m not sure they even know who that guy will be right now. Let the group battle it out in camp, see if they can add from the outside. It’s up in the air.
But if it was Wilson, to answer your question, then it might be Wilson as the Z. Again, depends on his development and how well he works off press coverage and improves his releases.
Douglas Prostorog: wich OL out of McCormick, Anderson and ook do you think ends up on teh PS?
Alex: I had Anderson on the PS in my way-too-early roster prediction. As a fourth round pick, it’s hard for McCormick to be cut. It’s happened, Doran Grant, Fred Gibson, Danny Farmar, but it’s uncommon. Cook has swing tackle potential and impressed last year despite relative inexperience playing o-line. Anderson is versatile but with Frazier, Herbig, and McCormick along the interior and at least three OTs ahead of him, he gets squeezed out in the numbers game.
