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!
David Shoff: Alex, thanks so much for your off season articles! Do you know how much time they have had Moore at RT in OTAs if any?? I would certainly like to have him working as much at RT as possible to get him ready for swing tackle.
Alex: I wasn’t there so I can’t speak to it directly. It didn’t sound like he got many/any reps there. Or else I think it would’ve become a conversation piece. I know Moore said he wasn’t comfortable there and the clips we did see had him at his usual left tackle spot.
But we’ll get into camp and see how the team addresses things. If Moore will flip between sides or if it’ll just be Broderick Jones doing it. One of the early things we’ll be talking about.
J Alexander Wright: If Darnell Washington doesn’t pan out as a receiving option, could you see him transitioning to tackle?
Alex: I get the thought and talk there and that was even discussed on him coming out of Georgia. I suppose that’s on the table down the road a la Larry Brown, who did it with Pittsburgh. But it’s such a big undertaking. I’d rather have Washington be a Matt Spaeth type, an exclusive blocker who catches 5-10 passes a year, that gets him on the field and helping my run game than him trying to convert to tackle and maybe being the backup and not playing? And yeah, you could make him tackle-eligible but then what was the point of converting him anyway?
Also, his frame. He’s big but he has a skinny lower half. Look at his frame. Is that a body type that can support adding 30 pounds? The dude already had long-term knee concerns coming out. I’m not really looking to ask his joints to support a bunch more weight. So largely, I’m against the idea.
David Shoff: Alex, I always love reading your camp “play by play” articles. I’ve always thought that the offense always practiced a lot more pass plays than run plays. Has it seemed that way to you? It’s just crazy how slow we start the season in the run game and then the 2nd half of the year we seem to get our act together.
Alex: You’re right, they do. But that’s really by design. When they’re in pads, they still usually only have one full contact, live-tackling session during 11v11. That’s the second session, the one after seven shots. And that’s when they really work on their run game. But you can’t hit the entire practice without a ton of wear and tear and higher risk of injury. So if you’re not hitting as often, then it’s harder to really rep or evaluate the run game. So you throw a bit more.
Dan Blocker: Hi Alex! If I missed it, I apologize. Did you do a breakdown of Arthur Smith’s 3rd Down offense? I saw Clayton Eckert wrote on an article on the success, but I was interested in the formations, 3 wide, 4 wide, 5 wide, etc. Sorry, I don’t get to visit the page or mailbag as much as I’d like, and I may have missed it. Thanks!
Alex: Hey DB! That’s ok, glad you’re here today. I haven’t done much focusing on just third down with Smith. Wouldn’t be a bad idea if I can find the time. A lot of my focus has been on his overall philosophy and the run game. Clayton has done more on that topic, as you said. But something I can put on my list if I have the time to do a deep dive.
Steel Rain: Alex, Idk if you ever indulge in fantasy football and if not, please just punt. But, I’m curious to hear which RB you would select, or neither, if you were looking at the Steelers to add a RB. Thanks for indulging me otherwise!
Alex: I play in a couple of leagues. Used to be in a ton but 10+ leagues was just exhausting. Not nearly as fun for me as it used to be.
Which RB I’d select if the roster was starting from scratch? Or if I could add anyone to this current roster? I’m not sure what you’re asking here. Can you clarify?
David Shoff: Alex, Is it looking like Elliott is going to be the starting strong safety?? Or does Kazee have a chance at that spot?
Alex: Yup, Elliott will be the starting SS. Kazee should stay in sub/dime packages. Elliott is more of an all-situations guy. The Steelers didn’t like using Kazee in base and near the LOS last year, which became one issue and reason why Minkah Fitzpatrick played in the box so much (too much) last year. Elliott should help solve that even if I’d consider him an average safety.
Peter Petersen:
Hey Alex, how much in that Najee extention problem could be that the Steelers feel the need for a top RB and are willing to
a) invest in Najee if he can prove to have more than 4.5 ypc with a good OL
b) invest in a higher draft pick into a guy who could do that and also be more of a dual threat
because of the run heavy offense they play.
Alex: I guess time will tell. We’re still feeling out how the team views the RB position. I’ll be writing about that for the morning. Are they going to go with a new or old-school approach? I really couldn’t tell you. The reporting right after the team declined his option was wanting to play the season out under OC Arthur Smith and see how he and the offense looked. Felt like a lame excuse to me but if true, then your first point may be correct.
Globe Trucking: How realistoc would it be for CAIII to win the #2 job.
He played outside a bunch in college and if He tears up camp Id love it.
Alex: You’re right, he did. He was an outside guy at Memphis. I still don’t think those odds are terribly high. If they don’t trade for someone to fill that spot full-time, it might be more of a committee approach to begin the season. Things are pretty wide open.
