Steelers News: Joey Porter admits Devin Bush can have an instant impact on the Steelers’ defense

With the 2019 NFL Draft in the rear view mirror, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2019 season is fast approaching, and the news surrounding the black-and-gold is far from over. As the team now turns their attention to more offseason workouts, OTAs and minicamp, there is no shortage of news.

Today in the black-and-gold links article we take a look at how former Outside Linebackers coach Joey Porter recognizes just how good Devin Bush can be for the Steelers’ defense, even as a rookie.

Let’s get to the news:

• Joey Porter has done a lot of talking about the Pittsburgh Steelers, but not all of it was centered around Ben Roethlisberger. He spoke about how rookie first round pick Devin Bush can have an instant impact on the team’s defense.

Joey Porter: Steelers inside linebacker Devin Bush will ‘bring instant splash’

By: Kevin Gorman, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Porter appeared on the NFL Network and said the inside linebacker, who was selected No. 10 overall last month, finally will alleviate the loss of Ryan Shazier to a spinal-cord injury. Bush was working with the first-team defense this week at organized team activities at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex in the South Side.

“I think he’s going to bring instant splash,” said Porter, a four-time Pro Bowl linebacker with the Steelers who was fired by the team in January after four seasons as their outside linebackers coach. “He’s going to be a guy that can go out there and call the defense and makes the Pittsburgh defense not have to try to use so many people to try and create a Ryan Shazier. That’s what we did a year ago. We had a lot of different packages to try to make two and three people be Ryan.

“When you have a Devin Bush, you can leave him on the field. You know he’s a smart guy. His dad is a football coach. He’s been in football his whole life. I think he comes right into the system and does his job and makes a lot of plays and brings that nasty back to the defense.”

To read the full article, click HERE

• Want to try and make some money on the Steelers? Place a bet on them having the year’s beset record will do the trick.

Steelers face 20-1 odds of having NFL’s best record in 2019

By: Joe Rutter, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

One gambling site thinks the Steelers have a better chance of achieving the NFL’s best record in 2019 than they do the worst.

According to BetOnline.ag, the Steelers face 20-1 odds of having the NFL’s top record in the regular season. That puts them in a tie for 10th among all teams. They face the same odds as the Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys and Minnesota Vikings.

To no surprise, the defending champion New England Patriots have the best odds, at 6-1, of getting the top record. The Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints are next at 7-1. The Miami Dolphins have the worst odds at 500-1.

To read the full article, click HERE

• How is the new chemistry in the Steelers’ wide receiver room? According to JuJu Smith-Schuster it is “one point”.

JuJu: Chemistry in Steelers’ WR room ‘on point’

By: Jeremy Fowler, ESPN

JuJu Smith-Schuster likes what he sees in his first official week as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ No. 1 receiver.

”The chemistry is on point,” Smith-Schuster told reporters after Wednesday’s organized team activities session. “Everyone is on the same page. Everyone is communicating. There’s really no -- how do you say? -- drama in our locker room.”

The Steelers took the field with excitement about Smith-Schuster, who replaces Antonio Brown as the top option in the passing game. Quarterback and co-captain Ben Roethlisberger said he believes Smith-Schuster is ready for the “awesome challenge.” Co-captain Cameron Heyward said Smith-Schuster, 22, is a “great kid” who only wants to improve.

To read the full article, click HERE

• For Ben Roethlisberger, this 2019 season isn’t about proving anything to anyone. It is about one thing — getting back to the playoffs.

Leading the way

By: Teresa Varley, Steelers.com

Roethlisberger has been voted by his teammates an offensive team captain 10 times in 15 seasons, including eight consecutive times. That doesn’t happen if you aren’t a leader. But he did say he did lack in leadership last year, failing to do what he sees a big part of his role as a leader is, and that’s lead the team to a successful season.

“When you are talking leadership, you are talking about relationships,” said Roethlisberger. “In this sport relationships change on a yearly basis because guys are here and gone. You have to do your best to realize what it takes for each guy to develop the best relationship you can.

“When it comes to leadership, we didn’t make the playoffs last year, we didn’t win our division. So I lacked in leadership. That is my job as the leader of this team to get us to the playoffs. I am going to need to focus my energy on how can I be a better leader to get us back to the playoffs.”

To read the full article, click HERE

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