Steelers news: Training camp schedule, Minkah not top safety in rankings, and more

After the buzz of the 2023 NFL Draft died down, Steelers OTAs gave an opportunity to see some new faces in action -- even if it was just practice in shells and shorts. Over the past two weeks, young players like Cory Trice Jr., Calvin Austin III, and Mark Robinson caught the attention of the media thanks to the plays they were able to make during organized team activities.

Now Steelers OTAs have come to a close and mandatory minicamp is on the horizon. The latest Steelers news involves the full training camp schedule release and Pro Football Focus' 2023 safety rankings.

Steelers news:

Teresa Varley of The Pittsburgh Steelers' official website released their full 2023 training camp schedule. Here's a look at every training camp practice the players will take part in this summer:

Steelers training camp schedule 2023

• Thursday, July 27th, 1:55 p.m. (Open to Public)*
• Friday, July 28th, 1:55 p.m. (Open to Public)*
• Saturday, July 29th, 1:55 p.m. (Open to Public)*
• Sunday, July 30th, 1:55 p.m. (Open to Public)*
• Tuesday, August 1st 1:55 p.m. (Open to Public)
• Wednesday, August 2nd, 1:55 p.m. (Open to Public)
• Thursday, August 3rd, 1:55 p.m. (Open to Public)
• Friday, August 4th, 7 p.m. (Latrobe Memorial Stadium)
• Saturday, August 5th, 1:55 p.m. (Open to Public)
• Sunday, August 6th, 1:55 p.m. (Open to Public)
• Tuesday, August 8th, 1:55 p.m. (Open to Public)
• Wednesday, August 9th, 1:55 p.m. (Open to Public)
• Friday, August 11th, Preseason Game at Tampa Bay (7 p.m. KDKA-TV)
• Sunday, August 13th, 1:55 p.m. (Open to Public)
• Tuesday, August 15th, 1:55 p.m. (Open to Public)
• Wednesday, August 16th, 1:55 p.m. (Open to Public)
• Thursday, August 17th, 10:30 a.m. (Open to Public)

The first practice open to the public will begin on July 27th, and the final training camp practice fans can attend will be on August 17th. The first four practices will be with helmets only, and the annual 'Friday Night Lights' practice will be held on August 4th at 7:00 p.m. ET at Latrobe Memorial Stadium.

All other practices listed will be at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. If you haven't had the pleasure of sitting on the hillside and watching your team practice at St. Vincent College, we encourage you to do so. Keep in mind that weather could potentially impact Steelers' training camp schedule.

More Steelers news:

Recently, Dalton Wasserman of Pro Football Focus ranked his top 32 safeties in the NFL ahead of the 2023 season. The popular opinion has been that Minkah Fitzpatrick is the best in the game at his position, but Wasserman went against the grain here.

Though PFF still has him ranked 2nd overall, Wasserman slotted Derwin James ahead of Fitzpatrick entering 2023. Strictly going off their overall PFF grades from the 2022 season, Minkah finished 3rd with an overall grade of 82.4 while Derwin finished 12th with an overall grade of 77.6.

James also missed three games this past season and recorded just 2 interceptions compared to Minkah's league-leading 6. Wasserman cited Derwin's pass rush grade as the reason to slot him ahead of Minkah, though Fitzpatrick earned significantly higher grades in coverage and run defense last year.

NFL news:

The big NFL news on Wednesday is that Dalvin Cook has officially been released by the Minnesota Vikings, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com reports. The veteran running back was coming off his fourth-straight Pro Bowl season, and he's never earned fewer than 1,135 rushing yards since 2019 despite missing multiple games over this span. This included a whopping 43 rushing touchdowns over this span.

Cook has a lot of mileage on the tires, but is still just 27 years old and still has breakaway speed. He averaged 4.4 yards per rush last year and 7.6 yards per reception. Cook was released due to contractual reasons as he was set to have a substantial $14.1 million cap number for the Vikings this season. It's only a matter of time before he finds a new home.