Steelers 2024 Offseason Thread

[tifosi77]

Kenny hadn't earned anything. He was given the opportunity in his first year in large part due to Trubs being shockingly awful. Year two was to be his year, and he didn't show much. His only accrued 'credits' were some late game heroics (that were only made possible by your incredible defense) and your draft position.

The one consistent bit of praise I was always happy to offer Pickett was his killer instinct. That's not something that can be coached, imo. It can be honed, but it can't be taught.

But that carries a very pointed "semi-colon however comma" bit of context. While the stout defense is what made those comebacks possible, it was the preceding ineptitude on the other side that made it necessary. He was rallying the team late to score 15 or 16 points. That same defense that was holding the Ravens to 13 points on their home field was backing up an offense that went through 59 minutes of not scoring an offensive TD.

For every Blame Canada run-run-pass/jet sweep/WR screen/is a monkey sending in these plays bit of nonsense, there is Pickett not reading Wide-Ass Open throws and bailing on healthy pockets to his own peril. That's why they both got canned.

[Morkle]

The other thing that this does for me is put more pressure on Tomlin. This team is above .500 and it better play like one at the start of the season.

I expect the playoffs now, so they better deliver.

[Troy Loney]

The other thing that this does for me is put more pressure on Tomlin. This team is above .500 and it better play like one at the start of the season.

I expect the playoffs now, so they better deliver.

Absent a freak injury, I’d say playoffs are a given.

It’s just whether they are just making the playoffs again, or if they’re a contender.

Ravens, fins, and bills all lost a ton. Houston is much better, Jax could sneak back in. Bengals also back in for sure if burrows plays.

Division winners: Bills, bengals, chiefs, Texans. WC- steelers, ravens, jaguars.

Browns don’t ever have back to back good years and I think the dolphins are going to be a complete train wreck. Only other wildcard (true meaning) are the jets.

Maybe Mikey has other thoughts on the colts, but I think they’d have to surprise to be back in the playoffs.

[Troy Loney]

https://x.com/bepryor/status/1768797387802173588?s=46

This is the reported tomlin walked out on, no?

If this is trash she puts out, then she deserved it.

[King Colby]

Square one? They have an established NFL starting quarterback... they should consider using a mid round pick on another QB

[tifosi77]

She's not wrong, though. Wilson will turn 36 during the coming season, and realistically has three seasons left, maybe four. (Maybe less if he s**ts the bed this year) Weirdly, even though the franchise is better off than they were 5 days ago, that is essentially just resetting back to where they were in 2020. Except this aging QB1 maybe doesn't have the organizational pull to effectively throw a tantrum to keep a new guy out.

[genoscoif]

So freakin stupid. Franchise NFL QBs don't work like that, Brooke. And lazy articles like this drive me nuts.

Who could they have drafted? What succession plan was available while Ben was playing? What year was it appropriate to move on from him? 2019 after the injury? Okay...What FA became available that they could've cut and run on Ben? Unless you mean they should've cut him, gone 1-15 with Duck Hodges (Mason would've probably still had them around .500) then drafted...who? 2020 was the loaded draft, and 2019 was the year Ben was hurt in week 2. I guess they could've drafted a QB in 2020. Oh that's right, they didn't have a 1st round pick that year. *dodint cringe alert*

They drafted a QB in the 3rd round in 2018. They drafted the top QB available in the draft in 2022. They also brought in the former 2nd overall pick in 2017 that year. But Brooke says that drafting Kenny undermined Trubisky. Ha. Haha. Hahahahahahahahaha. Try harder, Ms. Pryor.

2021 they would've needed the No. 1 overall to draft Trevor Lawrence. Second QB that year was Zach Wilson.

IMO it wasn't a lack of succession plan. It was bad timing. And Ben was elite. He was a man child that didn't want to mentor anyone, but he was elite until that 2019 injury. He threw for over 5K yards in 2018. So maybe they missed by a year with Ben. That's fair, I guess...but what would it have changed? And how did any of that plan affect Kenny?

[Pavel Bure]

Should have taken Carr off Gruden.

[Troy Loney]

So freakin stupid. Franchise NFL QBs don't work like that, Brooke. And lazy articles like this drive me nuts.

Who could they have drafted? What succession plan was available while Ben was playing? What year was it appropriate to move on from him? 2019 after the injury? Okay...What FA became available that they could've cut and run on Ben? Unless you mean they should've cut him, gone 1-15 with Duck Hodges (Mason would've probably still had them around .500) then drafted...who? 2020 was the loaded draft, and 2019 was the year Ben was hurt in week 2. I guess they could've drafted a QB in 2020. Oh that's right, they didn't have a 1st round pick that year. *dodint cringe alert*

They drafted a QB in the 3rd round in 2018. They drafted the top QB available in the draft in 2022. They also brought in the former 2nd overall pick in 2017 that year. But Brooke says that drafting Kenny undermined Trubisky. Ha. Haha. Hahahahahahahahaha. Try harder, Ms. Pryor.

2021 they would've needed the No. 1 overall to draft Trevor Lawrence. Second QB that year was Zach Wilson.

IMO it wasn't a lack of succession plan. It was bad timing. And Ben was elite. He was a man child that didn't want to mentor anyone, but he was elite until that 2019 injury. He threw for over 5K yards in 2018. So maybe they missed by a year with Ben. That's fair, I guess...but what would it have changed? And how did any of that plan affect Kenny?

I don't think I've ever been more aligned with someone on something steeler related before.

Yeah, as though you just need to plan better to get a franchise QB. It's either straight luck (Bengals, Jags - getting the first overall at the right time), scouting / drafting (Bills, Chiefs, Ravens, Chargers, Packers), lucky (Eagles, 49'ers), aggressive (Rams, Browns, Jets), or just build the foundation for an average QB to succeed (Cowboys, Lions).

The Steelers are aiming for that last group. I think there's more luck to that scouting/drafting group than we think, but I'm not entirely sure I trust the steelers to succeed there after the Pickett failure.

[tifosi77]

Hurts was still on the board when they drafted in 2020, iirc, and I think Jordan Love was still available at their original 1st rnd position. (There was also the Darnold option I've referenced more times in the last 24 hrs than I would've thought probable.) They didn't have a first round pick in 2020 because they made a splash to get a defensive stud via trade, vs using that capital to address the most important position in professional sports at a time when the organization needed to focus on replenishing that well. (I do not hate the Minkah trade, just articulating the position)

And considering they just got pretty much equal trade value for Pickett as a 5th rounder from his same draft class, I think "top QB available" is........... dubious. Especially since a guy drafted 240+ slots after him just started a Super Bowl.

[Troy Loney]

Hurts is a product of that eagles system, you can’t look at him as a lost opportunity for the Steelers. And again, Ben made it rather clear that he was not interested in mentoring his replacement. So that would have made drafting love impossible, not to mention that they already traded that pick.

And also, 2018 Ben was elite still, we didn’t know he was cooked until 2020.

They have one go of it with the their top qb prospect in ‘22, and it failed. Hitting on first round qb is probably only a 50% shot, and they missed.

Also, seeing Rudolph look pretty good, I’m reluctant to say that this was all system.

Fix center and the interior line is a strength, we’ve seen nowadays that you can survive with meh tackles, but a bad interior is untenable.

I expect smith to orient the offense around the strengths and for Russ to look good. They have bundles of cap space to go year to year on quarterback until the develop someone. I don’t know why we’re worried about 2027 right now.

[Troy Loney]

Fields now coming to pgh

[Troy Loney]

I honestly don’t get it. Does he beat out Russ?

[nocera]

No but they’ll pretend like there’s competition.

[nocera]

For a 6th? Lol

[mac5155]

This is wild. This isn't the steeler way and I'm 1000% here for it

[meow]

I’ve seen zero NFL snaps from Fields because I’m an adult and would not waste my own time.

What’s he like?

[genoscoif]

Absolutely wild!

[King Colby]

It would be cool if they could use fields on gadget plays or something

[Pavel Bure]

I’ve seen zero NFL snaps from Fields because I’m an adult and would not waste my own time.

What’s he like?

Don’t look at evidence, just get hype!

[dodint]

He's an upgrade over fake slide bro.

[Pavel Bure]

That’s Kenny’s replacement not mines…

[Morkle]

[Morkle]

I love this offseason. Absolutely love it.

[MR25]

I’ve seen zero NFL snaps from Fields because I’m an adult and would not waste my own time.

What’s he like?

Hard to get a good resd because the Bears are an abject disaster, especially on O Line