The stories that matter (and many that don’t) as the Steelers open training camp 2024
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Steelers training camp 2024 is upon us at Saint Vincent College. The team reports on Wednesday.
You know what that means.
Innumerable stories of who brought the biggest TV into the dorm rooms. Which player is rooming with which teammate? Who showed up in the flashiest car (or helicopter/fire truck)?
Also, what player put on the most weight? What player lost the most weight? And, no doubt, both players will also be in the best shape of their respective lives.
Plus, I’m willing to bet “this is the year” that we will have “no excuses” and it is “Super Bowl or bust.”
Even though the team has busted short of the Super Bowl the past 13 years and there have always been plenty of excuses.
So, with that in mind, let’s preemptively sift through the usual training camp fodder and get to the stories that really matter.
Or, perhaps better said, let’s point out in advance what stories won’t matter at all come January.
What doesn’t matter: Anything you read/hear/see about how great of a natural leader Russell Wilson is.
How much of a command of the huddle he has. His voice in the offensive meeting room. How much he has picked up the playbook.
Those are easy quotes for the players to give and even easier stories for the media to churn out.
Think about it. Whenever a veteran quarterback switches teams, how often do you ever come across a story or quote from someone saying, “Boy, I thought this guy knew what he was doing with his old team. But, now that he is here, he is lost, and, frankly, I don’t think he has very good leadership skills either!”?
Even in Denver with Wilson, it was supposed to be a great fit. Then the games began, and it wasn’t — with either coach he had there.
Remember, many people talked themselves into thinking the Mitch Trubisky experiment was going to work in Pittsburgh until the regular-season — or maybe even preseason — games started too.
What does matter: When and where Wilson is throwing the ball.
Is he actually using the middle of the field, or is he just checking down or chucking it deep? Is the ball coming out on time? If it isn’t, is he scrambling to get himself into better throwing lanes, or is he just extending plays that would be sacks if the quarterback was allowed to be hit in practice?
Is the red zone efficiency still as much of an arrow in his quiver as it has been throughout his career?
Any other conversation about Wilson is just filler.
What doesn’t matter: The amount of stories that are going to try to angle the Steelers’ quarterback competition into an actual competition.
There is no competition. Barring injury or an unforeseen lobotomy that prevents Wilson from remembering how to get the team in or out of the huddle, he will be the opening-day starter.
What does matter: In the reps that he gets at Saint Vincent College and in the preseason, does Justin Fields entice Mike Tomlin and Arthur Smith into using him in some sort of gimmick package or for the occasional specified series under center?
Also, in those reps Fields gets with the second team (or whatever chances he is given with the starters), is he intriguing enough to the organization to plant a seed that he is worthy of consideration for the starting job next year when both he and Wilson are free agents?
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What doesn’t matter: How hard Dan Moore Jr. works.
Nor does it matter how good of a teammate/mentor/human being/Eagle Scout he is. We know all those things about him already.
Actually, I don’t know if he is an Eagle Scout, but based on all those other things about him, he probably is. And he’ll probably walk little old ladies back to their cars after practice is over before he goes to lunch.
What does matter: Is he actually worthy of being the starting left tackle, thus keeping first-round draft choice Troy Fautanu on the bench and keeping last year’s first-round draft choice Broderick Jones at right tackle?
I know the Steelers love getting as much as they have gotten out of Moore already. But I think the progress that he has made and how much they like his effort clouds their analysis of how good he is.
It never seems to happen on draft day. They just drafted two tackles in the first round in as many years. But I’ll have to actually see him relegated to the bench in a backup role before I’m ever willing to believe they’ll actually do it.
What doesn’t matter: How many plays Van Jefferson, Quez Watkins, Marquez Callaway, Calvin Austin, Scotty Miller, Roman Wilson, et al. make in training camp.
It’s training camp. By the nature of how the practices go, receivers pop every year.
What does matter: If Brandon Aiyuk or another veteran receiver of significant caliber becomes available via trade or free agency, does general manager Omar Khan get him?
Because for as much as you will hear and see good things about the core of receivers vying to be the starter opposite George Pickens, none of them are worthy of being a No. 2 receiver.
What doesn’t matter: How many one-handed catches Pickens makes in practices.
What does matter: The kind of routes they have Pickens running and the precision with which he runs them.
What doesn’t matter: If Pickens gets the better of Joey Porter Jr. in practices. Porter is good. He’ll be fine.
What does matter: If Donte Jackson can’t keep up with any of the aforementioned motley crew of other receivers assembled on the depth chart.
What doesn’t matter: The Steelers’ reputation of being a great pass-rushing team.
What does matter: That they only had 47 sacks last year, a modest 11th in the NFL. T.J. Watt accounted for 19 of them.
The Steelers need more out of Alex Highsmith (seven sacks in 2023), and, if Cam Heyward doesn’t return to All-Pro form after his injury issues last year, someone on that defensive line has to provide some pass-rushing threat.
Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin will likely be able to generate some more heat up the middle this year with the additions of Patrick Queen and rookie Payton Wilson.
That’ll help. It better. Watt can’t be asked to keep doing so much of that heavy lifting on his own.
What doesn’t matter: How good Pat Freiermuth is in training camp.
What does matter: How healthy he is coming out of it.
What doesn’t matter: That the NFL gave a heavier-than-expected punishment to Cameron Sutton.
What does matter: If Tomlin and Austin can find someone capable of playing slot corner for the first eight games of the year.
What doesn’t matter: That Tomlin has never had a losing season.
No matter how often the visiting national media members bring it up during their live hits at Saint Vincent College.
What does matter: That the Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since 2016.
No matter how hard those national media members attempt to avoid pointing that out.