It has been a one-of-a-kind offseason for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2020. With training camp now behind us, it looks like we’ll have to wait until opening weekend to see the Steelers take the field. It is on to the regular season!
Today in the black-and-gold links article we take a look at how having a pair of lock down cornerbacks is not something Steelers fans are used to.
Let’s get to the news:
- Don’t look now, but the Pittsburgh Steelers’ cornerbacks are some of the best in the NFL.
Joe Haden, Steven Nelson give Steelers rare combo on outside
By: Chris Adamski, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
For an organization that has arguably become the NFL’s gold standard in drafting and developing its roster, the Pittsburgh Steelers finally found themselves a quality cornerback duo in an unconventional way.
They paid for it.
Using free agency to fill holes? Signing veteran retreads? That’s the way of Dallas, or Washington or New York, or so the accepted doctrine has become in Pittsburgh. Sometimes, though, you actually get what you pay for.
And by way of about $75 million in contracts given out over the past three years, the Steelers appear to have acquired what they have spent a generation searching for: a pair of shutdown-style cornerbacks to play the outside of their defense.
“We have two lockdown corners,” Steelers safety Terrell Edmunds said of Joe Haden and Steven Nelson.
“That tandem,” coach Mike Tomlin said earlier in the week, “of (Nelson) and Joe Haden is one of the central reasons why we’re excited about the potential of that back-end group.”
To read the full article, click HERE (Free)
- Gotta give props where props are deserved...
Mark Madden: Kudos to Steelers for final roster tweaks
By: Mark Madden, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
For the Pittsburgh Steelers, the final cuts usually offer few surprises.
They could have picked the roster before training camp. You could have picked the roster before training camp.
But this year, the Steelers made some wise moves at their depth chart’s fringes.
The No. 3 quarterback rarely comes into play. But last season, he did.
Recycling Josh Dobbs after he got cut by Jacksonville makes sense.
Dobbs is familiar with the system after spending 2017 and ’18 with the Steelers. He unlikely ever will be an NFL starter, but he is better than Duck Hodges, one of pro football’s worst quarterbacks ever. If Dobbs was the No. 3 QB last year, the Steelers make the playoffs. Dobbs also can challenge Mason Rudolph for the backup job.
Sean Davis isn’t a starter, either, and proved that during his previous four seasons in Pittsburgh. He went to Washington via free agency this past offseason but got released.
But, like Dobbs, Davis returns to a method he has practiced and executed. He is a capable backup, and perhaps he can push Terrell Edmunds at the safety opposite Minkah Fitzpatrick. Edmunds has been nothing but vanilla at that spot. (Perhaps that’s all that’s required.)
To read the full article, click HERE (Free)
- Mike Tomlin continues to troll the right tackles with the first depth chart.
Observations on the first depth chart
By: Bob Labriola, Steelers.com
In an interview that aired on SNR last week, Steelers President Art Rooney II was asked whether he believed stability could turn out to be a positive for the team during this unique 2020 NFL season.
“You would hope that helps, and I think it should,” said Rooney. “Starting with Coach Tomlin, we have someone who has been here a long time, knows the ropes. He’s no stranger to encountering a lot of different scenarios. Maybe not this particular one, but he has always been someone who is never afraid of a different challenge, a new challenge. We have most of our coaching staff back, we don’t have much turnover in terms of our starting positions, and so hopefully all of that bodes well for us as we head into the season here.”
Rooney mentioned the lack of turnover within the starting positions on offense, defense, and among the specialists, and Coach Mike Tomlin’s season-opening depth chart confirms that.
To read the full article, click HERE (Free)
- BTSC articles you may have missed...
Cam Heyward was ready for his “farewell” season
How an unknown defensive back made his way onto the 53-man roster
7 Steelers next in line for a new contract
T.J. Watt has turned the forced fumble into a thing of beauty
Instant reaction to the Steelers 53-man roster
How will the addition of Sean Davis impact sub packages?
Players take to social media to congratulate Cam Heyward on his contract
- Social Media Madness
Exclusive look at Chase Claypool! #Steelers pic.twitter.com/f74qyiU3tI
— BlitzburghVideos (@BlitzVideos) September 5, 2020
Eric Ebron admiring Sixburgh! #Steelers pic.twitter.com/QnyX4Imkzb
— BlitzburghVideos (@BlitzVideos) September 7, 2020
Dobbs has arrived! #Steelers pic.twitter.com/cTq2qUkbGG
— BlitzburghVideos (@BlitzVideos) September 7, 2020
Week 1.....Lock In! pic.twitter.com/Yl2PdYY9nB
— Mike Hilton (@MikeHilton_28) September 7, 2020
It’s time ! https://t.co/g4OFmaVnwR
— Steve Nelson (@Nelson_Island) September 7, 2020
We've named our 2020 team captains!@_BigBen7 @MaurkicePouncey @CamHeyward @_TJWatt @Dangerfield__ https://t.co/yZG7HiiJxj
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) September 7, 2020
Signed ✔️
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) September 7, 2020
Sealed ✔️
Delivered ✔️
We've signed DT Cameron Heyward to a new five-year contract!@BordasLaw Transaction: https://t.co/hItK6wRYLH pic.twitter.com/4hFVh2ngbV