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!
Chuck Anderson: In a game where the DL + OLB + secondary looked pretty dominant, ILBs Queen and Roberts didn’t exactly fill up the highlight reels. Any feel for why that is / expectation we’ll soon see more of what we expect from those guys this week?
Alex: Sometimes you chalk it up to it being Week 1. Not everyone is going to have an A-game. The d-line controlled the line well and Atlanta simply didn’t have the ball a ton in this one. Sometimes it’s just being steady and doing your job. Good run defense often looks like that. Boring but effective. Queen missed some tackles but it’s the opener. We’ll take the long-view approach to his game. And Roberts only played in base so he simply didn’t absorb a lot of snaps.
draframe1: Hi Alex! Always love your tireless work.
Its early but the way things seem to be going Moore seems to have locked down LT and it seems only a matter of time before Fautanu assumes RT. If this plays out well this year what do you foresee for next year with the OL? Extension for Moore? BJones kicking in to OG?
Alex: Thank you! Next year? Hard to predict. Just kinda focused on the here and now because so much can change. The most logical think is that Moore leaves in free agency and gets a nice deal somewhere. Jones moves to left tackle and Fautanu steps in at RT. That’s probably their plan and thought process. Less likely Jones would move to guard when McCormick and Anderson will compete for Daniels’ job next summer.
SteelNation: The Broncos could easily start 0-7 before they play an easy team like the Panthers. Do you think the Steelers will be able to get Courtland Sutton in a trade if the Broncos start waiving the white flag around week 6 or 7?
Alex: Possible. Not going to rule it out. They still may want to keep Sutton so Bo Nix has someone to throw to but yeah, if they’re out of the picture by Halloween, teams will call. And I bet Denver will listen. So it’s a possibility.
WeWantDaTruth: Hey Alex! Another WR question. If the Steelers are in the thick of things around the trade deadline, will they pull a trade for a WR2? Who would be some of the likely candidates? Surely, they don’t think this WR corps will get the job against the AFC elite.
Alex: They should. I think they will. Keep searching until you’ve exhausted all time and options. I’ve mentioned some before. Courtland Sutton if the Broncos are cooked. Maybe Davante Adams with the Raiders though that’s a bigger and more complicated splash addition. Kendrick Bourne in New England. DeAndre Hopkins in Tennessee (less excited about him but possible). And whoever else emerges along the way. Heck, maybe a Josh Reynolds from Denver. We’ll see how things look in mid-October.
AZSteeler:
Alex – thanks for all you do!
If Fields plays well enough to win at Denver, lets say marginally better then he did in Atlanta, do the Steelers finally just go with him and have Wilson as the backup? Seems to me, teams need to have a starting QB, not a rotation or a next week who knows attitude toward the QB. I understand if there is an injury, but don’t teams generally want a QB1?
Alex: I’ll frame it this way. It’s possible for Fields to remain the starter but it has to be clear and obvious. The way it was with Rudolph sticking even after Pickett got fully healthy last year. That there would’ve been a revolt if Tomlin switched back.
They like Fields. They like him enough to allow Wilson to get fully healthy. But I don’t think they yet like him enough to start him over a healthy Wilson, which I’m guessing/assuming he will be by Week 3. And by then, Wilson will be announced as the QB1.
Peter-Petersen: Hi Alex,
could you see a player for player trade where we send one of our OTs, (Moore or Jones) for a WR. Probalby nothing that screems ‘Steelers Way’, but could it be something where teams optimize their talent distrubution?
Alex: I guess you can’t rule anything out but pretty unlikely. Don’t want to risk the football gods getting mad at you for being too comfortable with your o-line. One injury changes a lot and essentially every Steelers tackle has dealt with an injury of some sort (Jones elbow/arm, Moore ankle, Cook foot, Fautanu knee) and it’s mid-September. Don’t want to trade an OT and then lose someone the next week and you’re in trouble. Trade the pick for the receiver. Not the player.
Nick Schultz: Hey Alex,
Unfortunately not much in the way of goal line looks last week. I feel like we could run 23 personel and shift freely from power I to 5 wide empty set and really take advantage of mismatches inside the 20. Do you think it is something we could see from Arthur Smith as the season progresses?
Alex: We basically already saw it. The two 14 personnel reps. The latter came on 3rd and 1 late in the game. Started condensed and then shifted to empty. Falcons confused and had a 3/4 man box. Easy QB draw for Fields to convert. So we saw it and it went well.
