With the Super Bowl now behind us, fans of every team are now in full offseason swing. There's a bit of a football-less dry spout coming up before the 2023 NFL Combine kicks off on February 27th. Until that time, we can expect it to be mostly quiet around the Pittsburgh Steelers facility.
Mike Tomlin's team has two second-round picks this year and a pair of new faces leading the front office in GM Omar Khan and assistant GM Andy Weidl. This means their typical draft trends may alter and their selections might not be as easy to predict.
Even though free agency takes place beforehand, the NFL Draft is always the most anticipated offseason event of the NFL calendar year, and experts are already busy offering their insight. Here's the latest Steelers news you need to know.
Steelers news
Recently, NFL Draft analyst Todd McShay of ESPN released his updated first-round mock draft following the Super Bowl. Like many others already this offseason, McShay had the Pittsburgh Steelers selecting a cornerback with the 17th overall pick. This time around, he went with Oregon CB Christian Gonzalez. Here's what he had to say about the selection:
"If the Steelers can't retain Cameron Sutton, then Gonzalez makes a lot of sense as a replacement. He has 6-foot-2 size, good length, some serious wheels and high-end ball skills, as evidenced by four interceptions in 2022. And if Pittsburgh does re-sign Sutton or add another cornerback via free agency, Gonzalez has versatility to move around the secondary and line up over the slot."Todd McShay
While mocking a cornerback to the Steelers is nothing new, the selection is a bit more unusual than we are used to seeing. For obvious reasons, Joey Porter Jr. has been the most frequently mocked cornerback to Pittsburgh this offseason.
The Steelers rarely draft Pac-12 players in the first round, but Gonzalez is a special football player who may end up being the best cornerback in this class. It will be interesting to see if Mike Tomlin and his brass visit Gonzalez on their Pro Day trail this year.
More Steelers news
In other Steelers news, JuJu Smith-Schuster is making headlines for the wrong reasons following the Super Bowl. The Chiefs won the big game but were aided by a very controversial defensive holding call against James Bradberry. Despite the circumstances, JuJu sent a Valentine's Day tweet aimed at Bradberry that read, 'I'll hold you when it matters most.'
This was met with backlash from many who thought this tweet was a low blow. Eagles receiver and teammate of Bradberry, AJ Brown, was not happy with Smith-Schuster's decision to tweet this.
First off congratulations. Y’all deserve it .This is lame. You was on the way out the league before mahomes resurrected your career on your 1 year deal Tik-Tok boy . He admitted that he grabbed you but don’t act like your like that or ever was. But congratulations again! 🎊👏🏾🍻 https://t.co/Z3SpMXnP4K
— AJ Brown (@1kalwaysopen_) February 14, 2023
Other professional athletes and media members chimed in and called this a 'classless' move by JuJu Smith-Schuster. The wide receiver's tweet recently became a trending topic on Twitter but has been met with many salty comments.
NFL news
On Wednesday, the Carolina Panthers, Denver Broncos, and Miami Dolphins each added assistant coaches to their staff. The Panthers named Parks Frazier as their new pass game coordinator. Frazier was an understudy of Frank Reich in Indianapolis.
Since the Steelers announced that Matt Canada would be sticking around as the offensive coordinator for the 2023 season, many fans have griped about wanting a passing game coordinator to pair with him in order to help Pittsburgh be more successful through the air. At this point in time, the team hasn't made any mention of adding this position to their staff. It's worth noting that the Steelers currently have the smallest coaching staff in the NFL.