Steelers Now
Now that the Pittsburgh Steelers have concluded their first week of training camp at Saint Vincent College, football is officially back. The pads haven’t yet come on, but we’ve gotten our first real glimpse into what this squad looks like out there on the field.
With that exposure comes the forming of narratives, some legitimate and some silly. In this edition of “buy or sell,” I discuss which early storylines feel like they’re worth investing in.
I’m buying this one. When you think about how the best defenses in Pittsburgh have been constructed over the years, they’ve been so heavily predicated on being dominant up front. Once again, this year’s pass rush has plenty of potential, but that hasn’t always mattered because they haven’t had the dudes on the back end to hold up in man coverage. Upon arrival in Latrobe, head coach Mike Tomlin openly expressed his excitement about having Ramsey, Porter Jr., and Slay on the field at the same time and how their coverage versatility in both man and zone will allow them to counteract high-flying passing games. Expectations are high and they should be given the amount of resources they’ve poured into this unit.
Over the first handful of practices, we’ve seen Ramsey take reps at safety, slot cornerback, and on the boundary. We’ll get a better feel for how his snaps are distributed on gameday, but it’s very clear that they view him as a versatile chess piece that can change the complexion of what they’re trying to do defensively. The 30-year-old acknowledged that the Steelers aren’t paying him top dollar to not put him in the best position to be around the ball and make plays. That’s certainly refreshing to hear, and he’s already flashed the ability to take the football away in practice. Obviously losing Minkah Fitzpatrick hurts, but there is a reality in which this group is the best Steelers secondary since 2019, or perhaps beyond.
The general consensus around camp is that the Steelers defense has gotten the better of the offense early on, even forcing Rodgers into a couple of uncharacteristic mistakes. Even if that is the case, I’m still selling this notion, and it’s because there is often a fundamental misunderstanding about what matters most in a setting like this. Remember, we’re talking about a guy that wasn’t even officially a member of this team two months ago. Right now, the most important things to figure out are the blending of Rodgers and Arthur Smith’s offensive ideologies and his developing chemistry with the pass catchers. Tracking stats for quarterbacks in training camp is truly an exercise in futility because certain periods are designed with different goals in mind, and most importantly, there is no threat of them getting hit.
Would it be great if Rodgers showed up to camp and looked like the MVP version of...
