Youthful offense
Coach says rookies earned starting jobs
The Steelers are expected to start three and perhaps four rookies in their season opener at Buffalo on Sunday afternoon, an uncommon occurrence for a franchise that has a tradition of rookies learning behind seasoned veterans before they ascend to starter status.
The Steelers’ top four draft choices are listed as starters or co-starters on the depth chart as they prepare to play the defending AFC East division champions. Running back Najee Harris, tight end Pat Freiermuth, center Kendrick Green and left tackle Dan Moore Jr. represent a changing of the guard in the Steelers’ offense, even as quarterback Ben Roethlisberger winds down his Hall of Fame career.
If Freiermuth starts over Ebron, nine of the 11 starters will be 25 or younger. This is a team-wide trend for the Steelers as older players from last decade have cycled out and have been replaced by younger ones.
“Where those guys are on the depth chart reflects what they’ve done through the team development process,” Steelers coach
Mike Tomlin said Tuesday afternoon. “I haven’t graded on a curve. Those guys have earned their positioning through their play. I’m excited about what they will provide us this weekend, but at the same time I think it’s reasonable to expect those guys to find their footing and to improve continually and rapidly over the course of this journey.”
Tomlin is not averse to starting rookies. Maurkice Pouncey started all 16 games in his rookie season in 2010. In more recent years, T.J. Watt, Terrell Edmunds and Devin Bush ascended to fulltime starters as rookies.
But it’s never happened at this volume. The only thing that comes close during Tomlin’s tenure was the 2016 rookie class when the top three picks all became starters by the middle of the season. Defensive tackle Javon Hargrave started 13 games and defensive backs Sean Davis and Artie Burns each started nine games.
The 2016 team, after a 4-5 start, made it all the way to the AFC championship game before bowing out to the Patriots.
Five years later, it’s the Steelers’ offense that is being infused by youth.
Four rookies starters — and at some very important positions — is a high number for any team in the league. Moore will be responsible for protecting Roethlisberger’s blind side. As the center, Green is tasked with the responsibility of making calls and setting protections.
There is going to be some trepidation with so many young players in key roles.
“I think that’s what comes with this time of the year,” Tomlin said. “There always is an element of the unknown that kind of heightens your awareness and gives you that tingle. Whether it’s individuals, or us collectively, I’m excited about getting in a venue under some real circumstances with these guys. I know we’ll know a heck of a lot more about us after this weekend than we did before, but I can imagine 31 other teams will say the same thing coming out of this weekend.”
The Steelers really like this draft class, but there are some underlying reasons for the number being so high this year. The 8% decrease in the salary cap, as well as the Steelers’ own cap problems, didn’t allow for any established veterans with higher price tags to be signed this offseason.
While the Steelers signed a few notable free agents such as Turner and Melvin Ingram, there wasn’t enough money to do it at every position where they lacked depth or an experienced starter.
So the competition for Green at center was J.C. Hassenauer, who is playing on a one-year, $780,000 contract. Hassenauer has only a little more experience than Green. He’s played in 15 NFL games with four starts, all last season.
The Steelers did sign veteran tackle Joe Haeg to a twoyear deal worth $4.6 million, but like Hassenauer, he didn’t get much of an opportunity to run with the starters during the preseason. When injuries had the tackle situation unsettled early in camp, it was Moore who was always elevated to play with the first-team offense.
Tomlin made it sound like the Steelers got a bargain when they were able to take Moore in the fourth round of the draft.
“He’s developed a lot, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t say he came with more than we anticipated,” Tomlin said. “He’s gotten better throughout the course of this, but I think his floor was higher than anticipated, at least from my perspective.”
We’ll see on Sunday afternoon if Moore and the other rookies are ready for prime time.
Injury update
Tomlin acknowledged Zach Banner, who was placed on injured reserve last week, had a setback with his surgically repaired knee. Linebacker Devin Bush, who had ACL surgery a month after Banner, is doing much better and will start against the Bills.
“I know [Banner’s] working extremely hard to get back to us,” Tomlin said. “He sustained a significant injury and different guys come back at different rates. That’s one of the points we’ve stressed to him and Devin Bush. Early on in the process he was dragging Devin along. Through the team development process, Devin has taken off, and he has not. We’ll continue to work him. Hopefully, it will be sooner rather than later.”
Tomlin had much less to say about the two other players on injured reserve — defensive end Stephon Tuitt and running back Anthony McFarland. He would not say when Tuitt was injured.
Roster moves
The Steelers added defensive lineman Henry Mondeaux, linebacker Delontae Scott and receiver Tyler Vaughns to their practice squad. Receiver Rico Bussey was moved to the injured list.