Steelers Breakdown from PennLive.com

If the Steelers did one thing positive in losing so humiliatingly to the San Francisco 49ers Sunday, they certainly lowered expectations for themselves. But they also find themselves desperate for a win in just the second game of the season.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The maturation of Kenny Pickett is nearly complete. An offseason full of film study, playbook scrutiny, pumping iron, working out with his receivers and becoming a married man has been leading up to this: Sunday’s home-opener vs. the Super Bowl-sniffing San Francisco 49ers who aim to test Pickett’s progress with a fierce pass rush and big-play-stifling defense. Learn more about your ad choices. Vi...

More than a week before the Steelers host the San Francisco 49ers, some very prominent sports analysts in Pittsburgh are brimming with superlatives when it comes to QB Kenny Pickett and his sky-high potential in his sophomore season. One even used the word “unstoppable” when it comes to Pickett and this year’s offense under heretofore much-criticized coordinator Matt Canada. Unstoppable? The Steel...

Jaylen Warren’s explosive 62-yard touchdown runs vs. the Buffalo Bills heralded another gear – and another level for the Steelers’ running game. As soon as Warren sped into the end zone, it ignited a Steelers Nation debate over who’s the best running back in the ‘Burgh. Warren is seen as the modern do-it-all back. Najee Harris is the throwback. Warren is a game-breaker. Harris is a pounding plodde...

Scoring from in close is a major emphasis at Steelers’ training camp this year. Early word coming out of those goal-line drills is the red zone should be much, much hotter for the Steelers in 2023. It had better be. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Entering 2023 with sophomore quarterback Kenny Pickett, the rebuilt Steelers’ defense looks ready to step up and take more of the weight. They want to be the team who runs the ball (behind a rebuilt offensive line, I might add). They’ll let Pickett pick his spots for big plays. But a running clock will be the Steelers’ ally. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Your 2023 Steelers report for training camp today at historic St. Vincent College in Latrobe. And one must wonder, given all the offseason hype, speculation and criticism, which Kenny Pickett will we see there? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Optimism is reigning supreme in the Steel City as the beloved 2023 Steelers are about to convene training camp at historic St. Vincent’s in Latrobe. With 2nd-year QB Kenny Pickett seen as the second coming and the new GM brain trust of Omar Khan and Andy Weidl having retooled the roster from top to bottom, Steelers Nation believes 2023 will be the season they’re riding high once again. Learn more...

Many are predicting 2023 will be the year Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth makes the final leap to be mentioned in the same conversation as superstars such as the Chiefs’ Travis Kelce, the Ravens’ Mark Andrews and the 49ers’ George Kittle. After all, Freiermuth has established himself as quarterback Kenny Pickett’s most clutch target, especially on third down.  Learn more about your ad choices. V...

It’s the biggest question surrounding the Steelers’ 2023 season. The answer will largely determine whether the Steelers are a playoff team -- or Coach Mike Tomlin has his first losing football squad. As has been said so often this offseason full of anticipation: So goes 2nd-year QB Kenny Pickett, so goes the Steelers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Steelers’ ‘Speedy Smurf’ Calvin Austin III never got out of the starting blocks in 2022. At 5-foot-8 and 162 pounds, Austin was sidelined all last season by a foot injury that eventually led to surgery last fall. Flashforward to summer 2023, and Austin says he’s feeling both healthy and fast. He’s lined up at the Steelers’ starting line, finally ready to flash his 4.32 40-yard dash speed on the fo...

Despite all the 2nd-year Steelers’ players packed with potential in 2023, the biggest Steelers’ sophomore surprise could be the player who was the biggest surprise as a rookie. I’m talking about none other than the undrafted running back out of Oklahoma State, Jaylen Warren. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

QB Kenny Pickett, entering his all-important sophomore season, says the Steelers’ offense is night-and-day compared to this point last year. “I went back and watched our first OTA last year. It’s a different team, honestly, not just player-wise but in terms of plays and how much we have (installed) already,” Pickett was quoted as saying.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoi...

In 2022, the much-heralded George Pickens out of Georgia put up four touchdowns as a Pittsburgh pro, while grabbing 52 catches for 801 yards, having played in all 17 games. Yet, he topped 100 receiving yards just once on the season. There were many reasons for this – all of which the 2023 playbook, coupled with second-year progress by both Pickens and his sophomore QB, Kenny Pickett, will look to...

Don’t look now, but Mason Rudolph is back in the black and gold. Right now, he’s penciled in as the No. 3 QB behind starter Kenny Pickett and his backup, Mitch Trubisky. But if one does the math, the Steelers’ No. 2 QB just might be too expensive, especially when the team is looking to sign star linebacker Alex Highsmith to a big new deal before the start of the regular season. Thus, Mason’s retur...

The Steelers’ highly praised 2023 draft class has greatly raised expectations for the coming season. Whether all that Steelers Nation optimism is warranted will largely be determined by the 2022 draft class. One player, in particular. I’m talking about Kenny Pickett, whom the Steelers took at pick 20 out of Pitt as the heir-apparent to Ben Roethlisberger. Pickett’s strong finish to the 2022 season...

A receiver who isn’t even on the roster anymore could be responsible for the dawning of the next great Steelers era. I’m taking about receiver Chase Claypool, whose contribution to the coming era cannot be overstated. In fact, it just keeps growing and growing. One could easily argue the roots of this Steelers’ retooling began at pick 49 of the 2020 draft, when the Steelers called Claypool’s name....

With three picks in the top 50 of the draft, Steelers GM Omar Khan and Pittsburgh are in prime position to add a trio of blue-chip players fresh from college who should be Steelers’ playmakers for the next decade or so. The work Khan has accomplished in free agency gives him some freedom to select that mythical of all draft prospects – “the best player available” at picks 17, 32 and 49.  Learn mor...

So far, the Steelers’ brain trust has played the offseason like a grandmaster moving pieces on a chess board. The story has been the exact opposite down in the supposedly charmed city of Baltimore, where the Ravens are being ripped apart by the trade demands of disgruntled QB Lamar Jackson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As quarterback of a team named after a city full of tough-as-nails steel workers, Kenny Pickett’s work ethic is perfect for Pittsburgh. Whether all his offseason labors result in real improvement in his second year remains to be seen. But it’s hard to dispute the Pitt product’s rapid and steep learning curve throughout the course of his rookie year.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megapho...

Pittsburgh is loaded with plenty of draft firepower to execute on a variety of team-changing trades and other moves aimed at remaking the 2023 roster. As GM Omar Khan eyes his first-ever draft at the helm, he’s extolling the flood of fresh ideas in the remade GM office and the maximum flexibility afforded by holding three draft picks in the top 50. He’s promising all of Pittsburgh he won’t hold ba...

It didn’t take Steelers assistant GM Andy Weidl long to tap his love of big bodies and his experience building the NFC Champion Eagles to shape two significant free agency acquisitions for the Steelers. I’m talking about the additions of former Eagles’ guards Isaac Seumalo and Nate Herbig. This shows the Steelers are finally serious about shoring up the franchise’s shaky foundation – that patchwor...

NFL free agency bargains are in the eye of the beholder. The Detroit Lions, seeing a young, smart and versatile cornerback in the personage of Cam Sutton, wasted no time signing him to a 3-year, $33 million deal, including a $10.9 million signing bonus. The Steelers, who were paying Sutton a paltry $9 million split over the last two season, balked at the price hike, despite professing much interes...

Recent results from a first-of-its-kind NFL Players’ Association survey of team working conditions comes as a big blow to the image of the Steelers as a once-model franchise. Pittsburgh ranked a shocking 22nd out of 32 teams in terms of its facilities, amenities, equipment and support staff. All this according to current Steelers who took part in the union-wide NFL survey.  Learn more about your a...

Don’t let the draft season smoke get in your eyes, Steelers Nation. As the muscle-bound meat market known as the NFL Combine convenes this week, there will be plenty of sleight of hand by teams trying to shift focus from the players they actually covet.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices