Steelers News: The new-look Steelers are aggressively preparing for the 2019 season

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 the Steelers are not just preparing with a new group of players for the 2019 season, but the way they go about their preparation has been different, and better.

Let’s get to the news:

• It was this time last year when the Steelers lost two players with season-ending injuries, and Ben Roethlisberger made a decision to sit out of almost all Organized Team Activities (OTAs) which would only fester into a fiasco later in the season. This year things are different.

Roethlisberger checking off list at OTAs

By: Dale Lolley, DKPittsburghSports

As they head into the final week of their OTAs, the Steelers seem to have seemingly accomplished everything they set out to do.

Put the Antonio Brown saga in their rearview mirror? Check.

Acclimate rookie Devin Bush into the defense? Check.

Re-establish a firm leadership from within? Check.

The Steelers have been all business this offseason, something that has been punctuated by this OTA process. Attendance has been very good and the work has been crisp.

More importantly, unlike last year, when both Jerald Hawkins and tight end Jake McGee went down with what would be season-ending injuries, the Steelers have avoided anything of that magnitude.

Sure, guys have been missing from practice here and there, but the issues have been minor.

Perhaps the biggest thing has been Ben Roethlisberger’s full engagement in the process. Roethlisberger attended only the initial OTA last year and then spent the rest of the process with his family, something that had long-lasting, unintended consequences.

To read the full article, click HERE

• When the going gets tough, the tough get going. That saying could be true for the current offense of the Pittsburgh Steelers, as they use competition to fuel them for a big 2019 season.

Give me 10 push-ups! Competition fuels post-A.B. Steelers offense

By: Jeremy Fowler, ESPN

Pittsburgh’s post-Brown offense will prioritize versatility, creativity and an equal opportunity approach. JuJu Smith-Schuster is the obvious primary option for Roethlisberger and will most likely post big numbers. Behind him is depth and intrigue but a lack of star power.

The Steelers believe they have at least nine viable pass-catching options which Roethlisberger will surely utilize. In a two-game stretch without Brown in late 2017, Roethlisberger completed passes to nine other Steelers, with four players catching at least four balls.

Jobs aren’t promised. Competition is driving each OTA session.

”Everybody’s pushing each other -- you got a drop, you’ve got 10 push-ups,” free-agent addition Donte Moncrief said. “Everybody’s trying to bring energy ... Make plays, don’t come out here lagging ... I feel like everybody’ going to be able to help. Everyone’s ready to play. Everybody knows JuJu is going to get a lot of attention. We have to be able to help him out, take some double-teams away and beat man so the defense has to cover everybody.”

Moncrief is crucial to that competition because of newness and pedigree.

The Steelers mostly know what they have from their supporting skill guys.

To read the full article, click HERE

• Expect James Conner to be arrogant about his starting role in the 2019 offense? Think again...

James Conner’s 2019 approach: ‘I haven’t earned anything’

By: Jeremy Fowler, ESPN

Conner was tasked with replacing an All-Pro and friend while handling a new set of expectations on the fly. The result was a Pro Bowl campaign, and now a tone-setting leadership presence that became fairly obvious Tuesday.

Instead of declaring himself the Steelers’ top back, Conner cut in the open field. “I haven’t earned anything,” Conner said. “That’s what training camp and everything is for.”

Asked whether a wild offseason that included wide receiver Antonio Brown’s departure motivated the team, Conner said without hesitation, “We’re just motivated by a Super Bowl.”

”From the outside looking in people might think it’s like some chaos or something,” said Conner, addressing the aftermath of the Brown and Bell sagas that tested the team’s resolve. “Really we’re a tight-knit group. That locker room is incredible. With all the guys in there, the camaraderie, everybody loves each other, really. People might think it’s chaos, but it’s not like that at all.”

To read the full article, click HERE

• Social Media Madness