With the Steelers officially in the dead part of the offseason, there certainly isn’t a lack of excitement around the team. An eventful offseason and some promising early practices have left a lot of fans buzzing. It has also led to some fans overreacting to specific things about this team.
While people are missing football and naturally looking for any storyline to follow, the number of hot takes and overreactions is incredibly high right now. From specific players to early depth charts to positional groups as a whole, here are the four biggest overreactions that Steelers fans are buying into.
Steelers Overreaction #1: Cory Trice’s early results
Few would argue that the Steelers landed some excellent value in the form of Cory Trice in the seventh round of the draft. He has great physical traits and solid tape to back him, and talent wise he looked like an early day-three candidate. An extremely deep cornerback draft class and some injury concerns pushed him down the board.
Reports quickly surfaced that Trice popped during OTA’s, and suddenly fans are talking like he is going to establish himself as a starter right out of the gate. Look, I’m as excited as anyone with the potential in Trice, but he is still only a seventh-round pick, and a player with his traits should be looking good right now.
He hasn’t earned anything yet, and he is rightfully still working his way up the depth chart. Can he earn a role as a rookie? Sure, but he needs to prove that before it is given to him. If his solid play continues once the pads come on and his body holds up, then we can talk. Until then, Trice is still battling for a spot on the final roster and has a lot to prove.
Steelers Overreaction #2: Dan Moore is the starter (for now)
The Steelers made a move and landed their guy in the first round with Broderick Jones, and fans have been excited to see him get onto the field sooner than later. This offense has lacked talent on the line for a while, and Jones could be the guy to help fix that. He flashed a lot of elite traits on his tape.
That said, Dan Moore is still on this roster, and while he has had his share of ups and downs during his career, he has experience and has shown the ability to grow as a player. Some fans seemingly expected the team to award Jones the starting gig right out of the gate despite having Moore around.
As was expected, Moore was the first-string left tackle during OTA’s, and he will likely remain there heading into training camp. This isn’t a bad thing, and it doesn’t mean that Jones will be a backup for the entire season.
While Moore lacks the upside of an elite tackle, he is consistent and has proven to be able to hold his own. Jones is just the opposite. He was raw coming out of Georgia, and he is now learning a new offensive system and adjusting to the pro game. That is going to take time.
Don’t be shocked to see Moore maintain his starting role through training camp and into the season. Unless Jones looks pro-ready, Moore can hold his own early in the season until Jones is ready to take over. This isn’t a knock on Jones, but he will likely need time to become a good pro. Until then, Moore is a fine player to man down the left tackle spot.
Steelers Overreaction #3: Darnell Washington, both positive and negative
Arguably the best value the Steelers got in the draft, Darnell Washington is a mountain of a man that blocks well and tested out as a plus athlete. While the sky is the limit for Washington, early reactions have been extreme in both directions.
Right after he was drafted, fans were declaring him an already elite player that will revolutionize this offense. While I do expect him to carve out a role early on, he will be the second tight end behind Pat Freiermuth. The expectation is that this team is going to use more multi-tight end sets, but they have to prove that first.
While Washington could surprise me, I don’t expect him to have some sort of an elite receiving season. He didn’t do that in college, so there isn’t a reason to expect him to do that this year. While he could grow into that role, he will be a blocker first, especially during his rookie season.
That then leads to the second overreaction based around Washington. Reports surfaced during OTA’s that Washington looked bad as a route runner. Again, this shouldn’t have been much of a surprise, as Washington was a raw route runner in school.
Fans naturally translate athleticism to receiving ability, but that isn’t always the case. While Washington can provide a big-bodied target, he isn’t going to be a reliable receiver early on. He needs to grow into that role, and that is likely part of the reason he slipped into the late third round.
If Washington is a nasty blocker as a rookie, I’m happy. Receiving ability is secondary and something I expect him to fully grow into. He isn’t ready to be an elite playmaker yet, but that also doesn’t mean he can’t grow into that role over time.
Steelers Overreaction #4: How the offense has been built
There are a lot of Steelers fans that are grossly overestimating the Steelers offense this season. I get it, the line is improved, and there is a true identity for this unit, but the blueprint is a flawed one. The offense is set to be a run-heavy team featuring two talented running backs, but that kind of offense is archaic.
The NFL is an offensive-driven league fueled by talented quarterbacks and high-scoring passing offenses. Pittsburgh doesn’t have that. While Kenny Pickett should make some leaps in his second season, the team clearly doesn’t believe he is at the point where he can go one on one with some of the other top quarterbacks.
Having a good run game makes sense on paper. Defenses have gone lighter in order to combat quick passing schemes, so a ground-and-pound system could thrive. As well, the thought of a throwback offense built around some grueling run game is fun, as a lot of us watched offenses like that thrive years ago.
The issue is, that type of offense has proven to be flawed. The Titans featured one of the freakiest backs in Derrick Henry and were a fine playoff competitor with him at the helm. Without a stable passing game though, they still failed to match up against the Chiefs, Bills, and Bengals offenses of the world.
The Steelers offense can win games more than likely, but I have my doubts that they will truly be in the Super Bowl hunt. While an offense like this could squeak out a win in the playoffs, running the gauntlet of elite offenses isn’t likely.
Then there are the fans claiming that Pickett is in for a top-five or better season as quarterback. The run-heavy offense will likely limit that, but Pickett also has a lot of work to do. His decision-making and accuracy especially were suspect during his rookie year.
I feel like the goal this offseason was safe. Build an offense that hides the weakness of Pickett and is countertrend enough to win. Perhaps the playoffs are made, and even a win here could be squeaked out, but don’t kid yourselves, this offense won’t be able to compete with other top units in the league.
With the NFL in a bit of a dead zone, hot takes and overreactions are aplenty right now. The Steelers are no exception, as fans have been consistently overreacting to quite a few things this offseason following an eventful draft and free agency period.