With the Pittsburgh Steelers’ preseason schedule now complete, all eyes look ahead to the beginning of the regular season. This year should be an interesting one, after a Steelers offseason unlike any other in recent memory. Still, former NFL OL Taylor Lewan thinks people are sleeping on the Steelers — at their own risk.
“I feel like the Steelers are in the best possible position you can be in,” Lewan said Thursday on Bussin’ With The Boys. “When Aaron Rodgers was with the Jets, it was like, the Jets are back, they’re gonna do this, obviously what happened, happened with the Jets. Now, no one is talking about Aaron Rodgers. I feel like that’s exactly where Aaron Rodgers wants to be.”
Rodgers is certainly approaching his time in Pittsburgh differently than he did in New York. A lot of that has to do with the type of organization he’s now a part of. In New York, he played for a franchise with no winning history and was expected to be the savior. After tearing his Achilles four snaps into that dream, hopes were crushed.
With the Steelers, Rodgers is just looking to fit in. And he’s doing a great job at that so far. He’s doing his best to form a connection with players across the roster and is receiving nothing but rave reviews from his teammates. Nothing against Russell Wilson, but Aaron Rodgers’ approach toward the locker room has seemed more authentic. So far, it seems to be making a difference in terms of morale.
That said, you still have to perform on the field. In that regard, Lewan loves what the Steelers have done to put Rodgers in a position to succeed.
“I love the addition of DK Metcalf,” Lewan said. “I love Jonnu Smith, who I think is a wildly underrated tight end, made the Pro Bowl with the Miami Dolphins last year. So right now, the Steelers are sitting in a spot where no one is talking about them. And that’s exactly where they need to be.”
He doesn’t have the most complete receiving corps around him, but there are still some talented players on offense. That starts with DK Metcalf, who Rodgers admits was part of his reason in coming to Pittsburgh. Smith should play a big role in the offense this season and can split out wide and line up in the backfield in addition to playing tight end.
Aaron Rodgers’ last adventure didn’t go well. There’s a long way to go, but it seems like things are getting off to a better start this time around. Lewan is taking notice.
