Asked and Answered: April 6

JASON BRECHT FROM ANAMOSA, IA: What am I lacking with James Connor? He not way back was a Professional Bowl operating again and defended in lots of questions by you, to now being kicked to the curb by most. I do perceive that the Steelers had been final in dashing and am under no circumstances pondering Connor is likely one of the greatest characteristic backs round, but when given a greater offensive line and completely different scheme, could not he nonetheless be a useful again?
ANSWER: James Conner was a Professional Bowl operating again in 2018, however within the NFL that is a lifetime in the past, and since then he hasn’t been capable of repeat that type of efficiency or construct upon it. The Steelers want a difference-making characteristic again, and one of the simplest ways for them so as to add one is to draft one. The concept behind that is to deal with a staff weak spot, and ending final within the league in dashing in 2020 screams that the operating sport is a serious weak spot. So, the Steelers want to enhance their offensive line, get a big-time again to run behind it, and emphasize that facet of their offense. Too many followers, in my view, imagine the purpose is to discover a strategy to make Conner profitable, when the actual purpose is to make the operating assault a weapon able to complementing a contending staff.

JC CHUTA FROM PITTSBURGH, PA: You have made references to the Steelers needing to deal with their offensive line within the upcoming draft. Was {that a} trace of your prediction for this yr’s draft?
ANSWER: No, it was proof that I watched each snap of each common season sport final season.

ROCKY HOUSTON FROM LITTLE ROCK, AR: What are your ideas on Pittsburgh signing Tyler Eifert?
ANSWER: My ideas are that his age (31 in September) and his latest damage historical past would scare me. Here’s what ESPN’s Katherine Terrell wrote on April 10, 2019: “A shoulder dislocation triggered (Eifert) to overlook your entire 2014 season. An sudden ankle damage within the 2016 Professional Bowl derailed his ensuing season. Between the ankle damage and again accidents, he was restricted to appearances in simply 10 video games within the 2016 and 2017 seasons. Simply when every little thing was trying up, his ankle snapped (in September 2018), forcing him on IR but once more. It is clear groups have grown cautious of his damage historical past by this level. That is why the Bengals prioritized teammate C.J. Uzomah forward of him in free company.”

THOMAS KOH FROM LIMA, OH: Do you suppose that the Steelers must get a cornerback within the upcoming draft?
ANSWER: I do not find out about “want,” as a result of Joe Haden and Cam Sutton are the starters, and in sub-packages the staff might transfer Sutton inside and put both Justin Layne or James Pierre at Sutton’s outdoors spot, a lot because it did with Deshea Townsend and Bryant McFadden again within the mid-to-late 2000s. It might assist their depth within the secondary so as to add a cornerback, however I might use the phrase “want” to explain the state of affairs at operating again, offensive sort out, and outdoors linebacker.

ANDREW SCHERBIK FROM CHESAPEAKE, MD: Throughout the draft, say issues fall within the Steelers favor and each Najee Harris and Teven Jenkins can be found, do you are taking the large sort out or the extremely gifted Harris?
ANSWER: If it was my resolution, which it’s not, I might decide Najee Harris within the first spherical if he is obtainable.

WILLIE JAMES FROM TIFTON, GA: You make it appear to be hell would freeze over earlier than Antonio Brown would come again to Pittsburgh. What is the take care of Antonio Brown? Why would not Pittsburgh need to add a dynamic playmaker to its offense?
ANSWER: To be most correct, I imagine hell would do the freezing over earlier than the Steelers would welcome Antonio Brown again to the staff. Keep in mind, he stop on his coaches and teammates through the week main as much as the 2018 common season finale with a playoff berth on the road. In skilled sports activities, there isn’t a getting back from that.

DEREK HECKATHORN FROM WAMPUM, PA: Do you suppose Malik Hooker could be a very good match to fill in on our secondary, offering that he is absolutely healed and a change might assist him?
ANSWER: Malik Hooker has spent 4 seasons within the NFL to this point. A kind of was ended prematurely by a torn ACL throughout his rookie season of 2017, and his 2020 season was led to September by a torn Achilles. Each of these are vital accidents, and so they occurred over a brief time frame. Too many “ifs” on this situation for me.

TODD ONINK FROM CLARKSVILLE, TN: Are you aware what function the Steelers have requested Marcus Allen to organize for?
ANSWER: Marcus Allen is listed as a linebacker on the Steelers roster, and I imagine that his future with the staff is on the hybrid linebacker place.

KURT MCDONALD FROM BURBANK, CA: Do you suppose if both Kellen Mond or Jamie Newman is out there on Day 2 of the upcoming draft that the Steelers would contemplate choosing both?
ANSWER: In my view, there’s little that is extra overrated than “having a yr behind Ben,” there are different, extra fast areas of the roster that have to be addressed this yr, and there’s no actual room on the depth chart for a quarterback in 2021. The Steelers aren’t going to maintain greater than three quarterbacks on the 53-man roster: Ben Roethlisberger is the starter, Mason Rudolph is the backup, and Dwayne Haskins is the younger, creating participant the staff added on a no-risk contract. Roethlisberger is not getting lower, and neither is Rudolph. And if the Steelers had been going to spend a premium draft decide on a quarterback in 2021, why would they even have bothered with Haskins, as a result of they have not had an opportunity to work with him or see him on the sphere inside their offense. Sure, the Steelers will carry 4 quarterbacks to coaching camp, however No. 4 could be an undrafted free agent, not a No. 3 decide. Alex Highsmith was a No. 3 decide.

JOHN GIAMMARCO FROM MCKEES ROCKS, PA: Kellen Mond from Texas A&M intrigues me within the fourth spherical. Your ideas?
ANSWER: Not inquisitive about a quarterback within the upcoming draft. Not within the first spherical. Not within the fourth spherical. Not in any spherical.

JORGE VELASCO FROM GUADALAJARA, MEXICO: I do know you are not fan of shifting round within the draft or making trades simply to make trades, however do you suppose it is price it to maneuver up within the draft and decide left sort out Penei Sewell?
ANSWER: The Steelers don’t have the draft capital for such a transfer, and so they have too many different points to deal with on their roster.

JORGE VÁZQUEZ FROM MEXICO CITY, MEXICO: Should you had been to determine between Najee Harris or Travis Etienne enjoying for the Steelers, who would you decide?
ANSWER: Najee Harris.

MICHAEL TORSIELLO FROM SUMMIT, NJ: Are you able to clarify how a staff can signal a participant at a Professional Day when, I assume, this participant has the potential to be drafted?
ANSWER: There are occasions when a school program, or the coach of a school program, will invite/enable a participant or gamers to take part in a Professional Day who will not be part of that specific yr’s draft class. Perhaps the participant was eligible for the earlier yr’s draft and wasn’t chosen, the school and/or the coach would possibly enable that participant to work out for an assemblage of NFL scouts who already had been going to be on campus to offer him an opportunity to make an impression and probably get signed to what primarily is a futures contract. There could possibly be different conditions at play, however suffice it to say that anybody signed at a Professional Day is not draft eligible.

KENNETH WAY FROM BEDFORD, PA: When was the final time the Steelers drafted an offensive participant within the first spherical and who was it?
ANSWER: David DeCastro was the Steelers’ first-round decide within the 2012 NFL Draft.

STEFAN PISOCKI FROM WILMINGTON, DE: I like that Ju-Ju Smith-Schuster selected to stay in soccer Nirvana for at the very least yet another yr. I assume there’s an understanding between him and administration that he will probably be taken care of by means of a extra profitable contract when extra cap area comes obtainable subsequent yr. Can such an settlement be made in writing, or is all of it primarily based on a handshake and a wink?
ANSWER: I imagine JuJu Smith-Schuster’s resolution to return to the Steelers for an additional season was strictly a enterprise resolution, and let me make this clear: I imagine it was a sensible and the proper enterprise resolution. However the reunion is for one yr, and I’m sure neither aspect would have ANY curiosity in committing at the moment to something past that. None in anyway. So take pleasure in Smith-Schuster in a Steelers uniform for the 2021 season, and fear about subsequent offseason subsequent offseason.

BRANDON BEARER FROM CARROLLTOWN, PA: Do you suppose the NFL will finally evolve into an 18-game common season with two preseason video games within the not so distant future?
ANSWER: “Finally” and “not so distance future” could be interpreted as very completely different timelines. As Steelers President Artwork Rooney II stated after the 17-game common season grew to become official, there was no consensus to this point for an 18-game common season from both possession or the gamers affiliation.

RUSSELL BLACKBURN FROM SPOKANE VALLEY, WA: After trying on the roster final night time on Steelers.com, I observed James Conner wasn’t on it. He’s a free agent, right? Do you might have any inkling that the Steelers will hold him?
ANSWER: James Conner is an unrestricted free agent, and that is why he not is listed on the Steelers roster. I do not know what the Steelers’ plans are for him, nor what his feeling is about returning to the staff. However in my view, the most effective factor for either side at this level is to half methods.

BRENNAN ESCHETE FROM BATON ROUGE, LA: Who do you suppose would be the Steelers beginning operating again this season? Will they draft a man early, or roll with Benny Snell and Anthony McFarland?
ANSWER: I imagine the Steelers will use a premium decide within the upcoming draft on a operating again. It is time to add a premium participant on the place.

BRETT BILLEC FROM CAMPBELL, OH: With the preseason being lowered by one sport, has the NFL modified the date of the Corridor of Fame Recreation? Will the common season nonetheless start the Thursday after Labor Day?
ANSWER: The Corridor of Fame Recreation nonetheless will probably be performed on Thursday, Aug. 5, and it’ll pair the Steelers and the Dallas Cowboys. And the common season will start on the Thursday after Labor Day. Steelers President Artwork Rooney II lately defined to me how that’s going to work: “There’s now an off week in there. What would have been Preseason Week 4 underneath the previous format is now an off week. So there’s now primarily a bye week (for everyone) earlier than the season begins, and in order that will probably be an adjustment for coaches and gamers by way of how that matches into making ready for the opener. That was a part of what we negotiated with the gamers.”