Ask Alex: Steelers Mailbag

Welcome back to your weekly Pittsburgh Steelers mailbag. With today being the players’ off day ahead of their first padded practice Tuesday, I wanted to run the mailbag and answer your questions after the first four days of camp. Like always, we’re here for the next hour to answer whatever is on your mind.

To your questions!

Nick: How has Zach Frazier been looking? Notes on him have been quieter compared to the other Rd 4+ rookies.

Alex: Sorry for the slight delay. Frazier has looked fine. No false starts/laps, which is a plus compared to the other young guys. But it’s hard to evaluate the trenches until tomorrow when the pads come on. So I’ll have more information throughout the week. Second team center, Nate Herbig clearly running ahead.

J Alexander Wright: Let’s just say hypothetically, Dan Moore wins the LT job and plays at an all pro level. Being an impending free agent and high draft capital sitting behind him, what do you think would happen? (I know this is like 0.0000001% chance of happening. Just for the sake of discussion). Thanks!

Alex: Oh man, that feels so crazy, I dunno. In that scenario, if he was re-signed, then maybe the conversation begins about moving Troy Fautanu to guard. He was projected by many to kick inside and with James Daniels almost certain to leave, that would be a sensible fit in that pie-in-the-sky scenario.

Black and Gold Mafia:

AK,
I know it’s early, but fair to say the talent difference between Pickett and Fields is pretty obvious? I know Fields isn’t as consistent as we’d like, but the guy seems to have everything you’re looking for.

Thanks for all the work on the camp notes. One of my favorites throughout the year.

Alex: Yes, though I really don’t spend any time during or after camp thinking about Kenny Pickett anymore. My focus is just on Fields and the best player he can be. I keep a lot of evaluations, right now at least, in a vacuum. But sure, Fields’ physical talent is top notch. Not just compared to Pickett but a lot of QBs. He can do stuff with his arm and legs few others can. It’s evening out his performance that’s the issue and I still see that early on in camp. That tiger hasn’t changed his stripes yet.

Tayln Scarbrough: Based on the training camp diaries it seems like Kyle Allen is doing really well. Any chance he’ll get some snaps against the starters just to see what he’s capable of (not saying he’s gonna beat out Fields or Wilson) but seems like he’s really solid for a 3rd string if not a 2nd string?

Alex: Allen has done well but no, I don’t see starting reps in his future. Especially with Russell Wilson getting back. Not that I’m freaked out about him missing the first four days but he does needs reps. He’s a little behind. So he has to get his work in. Allen will push back to third team. The “loser” of Wilson’s return will be Plumlee, who could get squeezed out of reps.

Peter-Petersen: Hey Alex,
nick Herbig led the team in ST snaps last year with 352. Will his snaps on def increase and should would that decrease his snap count on ST?
second question, Warren will be a RFA next year right? How is the Steelers history with placing tenders on RFAs vs extending guys and which tender would you put on Warren?

Alex: I’m not sure it will. He’s still not going to log a lot of time on defense and if he can contribute favorably there, and he can, you want him out there. If someone ever went down in-game, then maybe they adjust mid-game from there. But I’d have to kinda walk through the special teams combinations. If there’s enough guys to take a role away from him, and having a No. 4 OLB like Moon/Johnson helps as opposed to Golden last year as a No. 3/4 who didn’t play on STs and backup ILBs like Wilson/Robinson/Matakevich who can or will, that should offer more flexibility.

Maybe there’s a reduction to a degree but Herbig should still play on STs. I’ll try to watch more for that this week in camp. It’s hard to judge the punt lines sometimes because you have the “rush” team on the other side of the LOS to give a “look” to the protect/punt team. And so it’s hard to know if a guy is involved in that unit or if he’s just on the other side for that rep, if that makes sense.

Warren is an RFA next year, yes. I don’t have their history in front of me but the guys worth a tender get them. Warren, assuming a fine/as expected season, will get a 2nd round tender. First is overkill but the “original round” one, because he’s a UDFA, allows anyone to match without compensation. And Pittsburgh doesn’t want to chance that. So 2nd is the sweet spot.

JR912: Do you think there will be a correlation between our defense getting faster at the second level this year and a decrease in the yards allowed from 2023’s mediocre finish in that department? With the understanding that points scored is the name of the game, giving up a ton of yards isn’t likely to be conducive to long term success, so really hoping that players like Queen, P. Wilson, Jackson and Bishop are able to limit explosive plays in a way that broke open games last year beyond the Steeler’s offense’s ability to come back.

Alex: Sure, being faster helps. To paraphrase Gordon Gekko, speed is good. Being faster is better than slower. Not that it’s the end-all, being fast and bad in other areas won’t help, but you need to be able to turn and run and cover ground. To take on athletic move TEs, RBs out of the backfield, speedy receivers, mobile QBs.

But yards…it’s 2024. Teams gain yards. That’s just built into how football is played. My focus is on points and situational ball. Are you getting stops in big-time moments? Third down, red zone, end of half, game? Pittsburgh has and that’s why their defense has been successful. So sure, limiting yards is awesome and by extension, if teams aren’t gaining yards, they probably aren’t putting up many points. But the mission of preventing yards is hard. My focus is on the scoreboard and the situation.