Steelers news: LeBeau raves about Harrison, Watt slips in EDGE rankings, and more

Pittsburgh Steelers, James Harrison
Pittsburgh Steelers, James Harrison | Jared Wickerham/GettyImages

Pittsburgh Steelers news is sure to start amping up at the end of the month when players report to training camp, but this is the time of the year on the NFL calendar when we expect things to be pretty slow. After a busy offseason, Omar Khan and his staff can kick their feet up and relax for a few weeks before things really start speeding up.

This is the time of year for positional rankings and future predictions. It's also the time of year when interviews and podcasts are the closest thing we have to news. The latest Steelers news involves kind words from Dick LeBeau to a former player as well as T.J. Watt's recent placement in edge defender rankings.

Steelers news:

Recently, legendary Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau joined Bryant McFadden on the All Things Covered Podcast where they discussed a range of topics and shared memories. During the nearly hour-long podcast, McFadden and LeBeua got on the topic of James Harrison, and the former defensive coordinator couldn't find enough good things to say about his former star pupil.

LeBeau recalled way back when Harrison was very much an unknown player who had been cut and re-signed multiple times.

""I thought I knew about him... And we got on the practice field and I was watching number 92. I watched all the drills every night before I go to bed. I looked at everything every player did, and I said 'Nobody's blocking this 92.' And I said 'Who is this guy?' "
Keith Butler via All Things Covered

LeBeau went on to ensure that he earned plenty of snaps during the preseason because he hasn't found anyone who could block him. The former Steelers DC praised Harrison by saying 'I still haven't seen anybody block him.' LeBeau was proud to say that he wasn't on the staff that let him go because he would have never made that decision.

More Steelers news:

ESPN insider, Jeremy Fowler, has been comprising top-10 positional rankings based on what executives, coaches, and players have to say. Recently, he released ESPN's edge rusher rankings, and T.J. Watt landed in the 4th overall spot on the list.

This is a slide from the number one spot he owned entering the 2022 season, but injuries played a big factor last season. Watt landed on IR after week one with a pectoral injury, and when he finally returned to the field in Week 10, it took him a bit to get back up to speed.

One NFC executive believes that Watt is still the best in the NFL at his position when healthy, and nobody should be surprised if he rebounds to top this list next summer. For the 28-year-old pass rusher, it's going to come down to staying healthy and playing at full strength. Only Nick Bosa, Myles Garrett, and Micah Parsons were ahead of him on this list.

NFL news:

In NFL news, the Carolina Panthers are set to honor Julius Peppers and Muhsin Muhammad in their Hall of Honor, per NFL.com. Peppers had a remarkable 17-year NFL career -- with his first 8 seasons and final two seasons coming with the Panthers. The big defensive end earned three First-Team All-Pro honors to go with 9 Pro Bowls in his career. Muhammad was a two-time Pro Bowl and one-time All-Pro receiver for the Panthers during his 11 years in Carolina (14 total in his career).

Schedule