Behind the Steel Curtain
Fun fact, I’m writing this in a Starbucks near State College. Quick tip for everyone planning a fun getaway – make sure the place that your family books has good wifi.
Anyway, welcome to the weekly mailbag. This is genuinely one of my favorite pieces of the week, so I appreciate all who consistently submit questions/comments. Let’s get into it.
Q: If Aaron Rodgers takes the first snap, feels some pain in his wrist, and then Mason Rudolph comes in and the Steelers win by 50, does Aaron get the win? Asking for a buddy. – Polamolicules Dude
A: If the Steelers are winning when Mason comes in and they win, Aaron gets the win. If they are losing and Mason brings them back, he gets the win.
Q: In recent memory, can we name a worse offseason this team has had in terms of moves that negatively affected the team?
Slay signing: Pierre looks leaps and bounds better. Slay has been nothing short of abysmal when he’s on the field
DK trade: Dk has shown us he’s a guy that needs a star across from him to succeed. If he’s doubled, it’s game over. You don’t pay 30 mill a year to a guy who can’t work through double coverage.
Pickens trade: we traded a top 10 wideout under age 25 for a third round pick….a guy who is nearly doubling DK’s numbers. I don’t care about the locker room stuff. We did not take all the steps we could’ve with him. Didn’t even try to sit him at all. We got fleeced hard in both trades. We pretty much traded Pickens for DK and took on a monster contract in the process.
We got no help at receiver, knowing full well that we were going to be in the same situation with Metcalf that Pickens was in. Except Pickens is far better than DK. Every plan they seemed to have going into this year seems to have completely crumbled around them, and despite a 6-4 record the outlook right now is just not very good. – Sir Frederick
A: 2022 was pretty bad, more so for drafting Pickett. In terms of Metcalf, getting him was a good move, but not getting a WR2 again is hurting the offense. Slay is 35, I don’t know what they expected to be there. They’ve done this at CB2 for half a decade – Ahkello Witherspoon, Levi Wallace, Patrick Peterson, Donte Jackson, Slay. Now that Asante Samuel is in the picture, he and Porter should be the outside starters. They’ve drafted well, and the trades they’ve made have been good, which has helped the roster a lot. However, their free agent signings have been very hit or miss.
Q: **With the caveat that there’s still a wide range of possible outcomes with 7 weeks left to play – care to hazard a guess on the likelihood of various staff members being replaced next year? I particularly have DC Austin and OL coach...
