Preseason opener watch list
The Steelers begin another preseason Friday against Tampa Bay. There’s a No. 2 quarterback competition to monitor, a kicker who needs to bounce back and even a punting battle, but these are five players to keep an eye on once the ( mostly meaningless) games begin:
• Diontae Johnson, rookie wide receiver, has been nicked up in camp, as he was in the spring, so his availability is in question. But if he is good to go, the No. 2 pick in the third round is the most intriguing wideout to keep an eye on, just because he’s such a wild card for the offense. James Washington, a second- rounder, showed last year that rookie seasons like JuJu SmithSchuster’s in 2017 are the exception, not the norm. These four exhibitions should be the first tangible evidence as to what Johnson can provide for an Antonio Brown- less passing attack.
• Xavier Grimble, a sixth- year tight end, has found a home in Pittsburgh, but is he good enough to be the No. 2 to Vance McDonald? Grimble has caught just 22 passes in his NFL career. Jesse James caught 30 last season alone, and that was his lowest total of the past three years. A former undrafted free agent, Grimble has always seemed serviceable as a third tight end, but the Steelers are rolling into the preseason with him as the clear- cut backup, and he’ll have a chance to persuade them to not sign or trade for another.
• Devlin Hodges, rookie quarterback. There isn’t a single undrafted player projected to be under center for an NFL team when the regular season begins. If that wasn’t enough of an uphill climb for Hodges to begin his career out of Football Championship Subdivision school Samford, he latched on with a team that has a future Hall of Famer, a third- year fourth- round pick and a secondyear third- round pick. And yet, it’s a credit to Hodges that he still has found a way to become a buzzworthy rookie so far in camp. Time to see if it will translate to the preseason, and if it does, what that might mean for him or the team’s evaluation of its quarterback depth chart.
• Devin Bush, rookie inside linebacker. Defensively, all eyes will be on No. 55 in the middle. Coach Mike Tomlin didn’t indicate how much the No. 10 pick will play, but you can count on every step Bush takes being analyzed to death, especially with the other Devin — LSU product Devin White — playing middle linebacker when the Buccaneers are on the field. Bush’s size is the biggest question about him as he begins his NFL career, and Friday will be his first opportunity to prove it won’t matter.
• Robert Spillane, second- year inside linebacker. When Bush gives way to backups, one of those figures to be Spillane, the 6- foot- 1, 229- pounder undrafted out of Western Michigan last year. Spillane isn’t a big name, but he has been here before — literally. Only seven players had more tackles last preseason than Spillane’s 26, and if you’re truly an exhibition junkie you might remember Spillane’s last time at Heinz Field, with the Tenneessee Titans. Week 3 of the 2018 preseason, he ripped a catch away from Steelers receiver Justin Hunter and turned it into an interception. It’s a safe bet Spillane will be going hard to try to lock up a roster spot as a backup/ special teams maven, or at least a practice squad invite after appearing in two regular- season games last year for the Titans.