RAY FITTIPALDO’S STEELERS CHAT HIGHLIGHTS
Highlights from Ray Fittipaldo’s Steelers chat, which you can join weekly at post-gazette.com. Questions and answers have been edited for clarity:
• Ebonheart: Odds of four preseason games?
Ray Fittipaldo: Not very good. Teams won’t report until July 28. There will be some sort of ramp-up period due to the long layoff and COVID-19. My guess is they’ll try to do two games — one at home and one on the road, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if there are none. Just a few weeks of camp and then start the regular season.
Steeltree: What message does the NFL send to the other 31 teams with the slap on the wrist given to the Patriots for once again blatantly breaking the rules with their taping of the Bengals last season?
Ray Fittipaldo: The message isn’t to the other 31 teams. It’s to the Patriots, and it says: “Keep cheating or bending the rules.” In effect, that’s exactly what they’re doing. Fining Robert Kraft $1.1 million is like fining you or me $5. It’s nothing to him. And docking a thirdround pick won’t deter them. It certainly hasn’t in the past when they were docked first-round picks for previous offenses.
DaquidoBazzini: If there is a season, I’m a bit concerned about the losses (and lack of gains) the Steeler defense took in the offseason. As you know, they were run on as last year moved on. Tuitt returning with Hargrave gone seems to be close to a wash. What’s to prevent them from having deeper problems in the upcoming season?
Ray Fittipaldo: This is true, but it’s not like they were gashed on a consistent basis. There were a few games where teams did run the ball on them. They’ll have to address the issues, but it might not be personnel-related. It just might be their desire to play in subpackages in certain situations when they’re almost inviting teams to run.
Tim: Asked Brian and Gerry in their most recent chats and was interested in your opinion as well. Better draft day front office move: Moving up considerably in first round to select Troy or draft day trade with the Rams for The Bus?
Ray Fittipaldo: I would say the trade-up to land Polamalu. He was a generational defender and will be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was the NFL defensive player of the year and key component on three Super Bowl teams, including two that won it. Bettis is a Hall of Famer too, and he was so important to those teams in the late ‘90s and early 2000s. But the Steelers only won one Super Bowl with Bettis, and he wasn’t even the starter then.
steelmann58: Hey Ray who do you think wins the potential battle for RT?
Ray Fittipaldo: My guess is Chuks Okorafor if he is ready. If not, I can see them moving Matt Feiler back to RT and then inserting Stefen Wisniewski at LG.
Devin: The Patriots now have Cam, Stidham and Hoyer. The Steelers have Ben, Mason and Duck. All things being equal, I think the Pats have the edge at quarterback. Your thoughts?
Ray Fittipaldo: How so? I’d take Roethlisberger over Newton any day of the week. I have no idea about Stidham, and Hoyer is an OK reserve. The Steelers backup situation isn’t great, but just having Roethlisberger is enough for me to give them the edge over the Patriots.
Walt: Hey Ray ... do you see Zach Banner potentially becoming a starter for the Steelers in two or three years?
Ray Fittipaldo: He has an opportunity this summer to earn a starting job. He will wage a battle with Okorafor for the right tackle job in camp.