Steelers News: The young crop of running backs at the combine are getting no respect

The Pittsburgh Steelers 2019 season is officially over. After finishing the year 8-8, the Steelers, and their vast fan base, has another long offseason awaiting them. Just because the games are done doesn’t mean we stop providing you with features, commentary and opinions to tide you over throughout the offseason!

Today in the black-and-gold links article we take a look at how the young running backs at the NFL Scouting Combine are getting no respect.

Let’s get to the news:

• The Steelers might be looking for a running back, and this might be the draft class to find a steal of a deal.

Lack of respect for RBs could play into Steelers’ favor in NFL Draft

By: Joe Rutter, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

When it comes to running backs in the NFL Draft, the respect level is about on par with Rodney Dangerfield.

A year after Alabama’s Josh Jacobs was the only running back taken in the first round — and he didn’t come off the board until No. 24 — Georgia’s D’Andre Swift is the only consensus first-rounder in his 2020 position group.

And, like Jacobs, Swift is not expected to be picked until the second half of the round.

That is bothersome to some of the top prospects in this class, a group that includes Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor, Ohio State’s J.K. Dobbins, Florida State’s Cam Akers and LSU’s Clyde Edwards-Helaire.

“Look at the talent,” Taylor said, rattling off a list of names. “You look at these guys, and it’s not ordinary things that are going on. I think the biggest thing is understanding these guys have value. We have value.”

To read the full article, click HERE (Free)

• Is the Combine moving to prime time a good thing?

Steelers’ Kevin Colbert endorses NFL Combine going to prime time

By: Joe Rutter, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

The first workouts of the NFL Combine began Wednesday with the bench press inside the Indianapolis Convention Center.

The fun stuff starts Thursday.

For the first time, the workouts at Lucas Oil Stadium will be conducted in prime time, with NFL Network providing seven hours of coverage in drills involving quarterbacks, wide receivers and tight ends.

The prime-time showcase, involving players from other positions, will continue through Sunday.

Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert, an influential member of the NFL Combine Committee, isn’t sure what to expect.

“Everything that is happening is new for all of us,” Colbert said.

With the workouts moving to late-afternoon and evening hours, player interviews with teams have shifted to earlier times. The time crunch resulted in teams getting 45 interviews with prospects instead of the customary 60.

To read the full article, click HERE (Free)

• Maurkice Pouncey is mad about the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

Steelers’ Maurkice Pouncey posts profanity-laced tirade against proposed NFL CBA

By: Chris Adamski, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

It’s fair to say that Maurkice Pouncey is against the proposed collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and its players.

In a 43-second, not-safe-for-work video message posted to his verified Instagram account Wednesday, Pouncey blasted the proposal that was ratified by the league’s owners and has been sent to a vote by rank-and-file players this week.

A veteran center and the Pittsburgh Steelers’ third-longest tenured player, Pouncey cursed about a dozen times while speaking while driving shirtless down a street with blue skies and palm trees.

“They ain’t looking out for the best of the players,” Pouncey said, referring to NFLPA leadership. “If you all want my vote, the Pouncey twins vote no.”

Pouncey’s brother, Mike, is an offensive lineman for the Los Angeles Chargers.

Maurkice Pouncey began his message by calling the proposed CBA — the current one expires next year, and ownership placed a deadline of next month for approving this proposed extension — “so (expletive) crazy” before criticizing “the dude at the top” of the union, and later referring to “the president.”

To read the full article, click HERE (Free)

• Social Media Madness