Entering the final preseason game against the Detroit Lions, plenty of things are going to become clearer in the larger picture overall regarding the Pittsburgh Steelers.
From a roster standpoint, who is the starting quarterback? What group handles the starting roles in the trenches? What does the inside linebacker rotation look like? Who is the backup cornerback behind Joey Porter Jr. and Donte Jackson?
There are many questions to be answered in the days ahead.
But one question that isn’t close to being answered, at least from head coach Mike Tomlin’s perspective, is the swing tackle situation along the offensive line.
Speaking with reporters Thursday ahead of Saturday’s preseason finale against the Lions, Tomlin stated that he and the decision makers are “not in the mode right now” of figuring out personnel and packages for the season, as far as identifying roles.
Instead, he and the Steelers are still trying to provide as many opportunities for guys to sort themselves out as the Steelers are still very much in 90-man offseason roster mode.
“I don’t know that we are ready to identify that. We’re still at 90 trying to get to 53, and so we’re not in that mode right now of how we divide up labor within a smaller group,” Tomlin said to reporters when asked about the swing tackle situation, according to video via the Steelers’ YouTube page. “We’re just still trying to provide as many opportunities as we can for guys to sort themselves out. That’s more of a scarcity of bodies discussion and we’re just not, not there yet.
“It’s much like tackles that report as eligible in short yardage and so forth. We’ve got seven tight ends on the roster right now, so that’s less of a discussion, but at some point it will be.”
That is certainly understandable from Tomlin’s perspective, especially with one more preseason game to play and trying to figure out how he and the Steelers are going to get through the game, but his answer regarding the swing tackle position seems a bit glib.
Yes, the Steelers are still at a 90-man roster and trying to give guys as many opportunities as possible. But the swing tackle position has to be at the forefront of everyone’s mind, especially with the struggles of second-year tackle Broderick Jones, the strong training camp and preseason of Dan Moore Jr., and the expected elevation to a starting role in the season opener for rookie first-round pick Troy Fautanu.
It’s a huge question as to what the Steelers are going to do, not only at left tackle, but at swing tackle as well. With the way Jones is struggling and very clearly dealing with an elbow injury (regardless of him not making excuses and brushing off the injury), is it wise to put him out there as the starting LT against Atlanta in Week 1?
Or would it be best to let Moore start the season at LT with Fautanu at RT and let Jones be the swing tackle and try to heal up much as he can before taking over for Moore later in the season?
It’s a consequential decision, especially early with matchups against pass rushers like Matthew Judon in Atlanta, Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack in Los Angeles and Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence in Dallas in the first five weeks.
Publicly, Tomlin might not be thinking all that much about the swing tackle situation and figuring out the best plan of action moving forward there. But behind closed doors, the Steelers hopefully are spending quite a bit of time trying to figure out the best steps forward.
