The 5: Steelers to watch at Cincinnati Bengals
Every week, ahead of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ games, Steel City Underground will analyze the depth chart, injury reports, and key matchups against their upcoming opponent in order to point out “The 5” – Steelers players to watch.
Offensive Line
Sorry for starting off on such a sour note here, Steelers fans, but I am afraid that this year’s offensive line may be worse than last year’s offensive line; which is not only nails on a chalk board for every proud fan of the Black and Gold, but it’s hard to even imagine a worse performance than last year.
At the end of last season, PFF had the Steelers offensive line ranked 26th in the league, with Trai Turner (no longer with the team) as the highest rated player at 69.4. With ESPN projecting the Steelers o-line to finish as the 28th best group in the league (#32 pass block, #17 run block).
No matter who is taking snaps behind center this year, they are going to have to get rid of the ball quickly and will be on the move quite a bit.
As for Najee Harris and the rest of that running back room? Rest up, and good luck this season, gentlemen… looks like it might be another season of tough-sledding.
The offensive line will have their hands full in the season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals. Sam Hubbard, Trey Hendrickson, and a familiar face in Mike Hilton, could all make for a very long night for a very bad Steelers offensive line.
Note: Thursday’s injury report listed RT Chukwuma Okorafor (Back) – DNP. A big concern for an offensive line already outmatched, now possibly being down one of their best players for the home opener.
Mitchell Trubisky
Credit to all three of the Steelers quarterbacks who received reps throughout the preseason, they all played well and put up similar stat lines, despite little-to-no help from the offensive line.
- Mitch Trubisky: 24/34 (70.5%), 283 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT.
- Kenny Pickett: 29/36 (80.5%), 261 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT.
- Mason Rudolph: 26/39 (66.6%), 220 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT.
While Kenny Pickett did everything you could ask your first-round rookie QB to do in their first preseason, I had always felt that – unless things had gone notably off-plan with injury or a major differentiation in play quality – the starting job was penciled in for Trubisky from the get-go.
Not only do the Steelers and head coach Mike Tomlin feel like a group who would pursue a more traditional approach to rookie QBs (of letting them sit for as long as possible behind a veteran to learn) but, personally, I don’t want to see Pickett behind this offensive line for an entire season. That is just a game of odds that I would like to not participate in.
Pickett can be like Joe Burrow in his second year, but we don’t need to sacrifice his ACL to the Football Gods for the sins of not properly investing into the offensive line like Burrow and the Bengals did.
Trubisky will have a tough task at-hand against a talented Bengals secondary with Mike Hilton, Vonn Bell, and Jessie Bates III roaming around. Thankfully, it looks like Trubisky will have his full cast of receivers to combat a skilled Bengals defense.
Devin Bush
*sigh*.
I don’t want to pile on the Devin Bush hate train, I really don’t, but when your biggest preseason highlight is a stop you make against the Detroit Lions in preseason week 3 in the 4th quarter, and you temporarily have an “or” designation on your starting spot… it’s hard not to remain pessimistic about Devin Bush going into the 2022 season.
However, I will say this in Bush’s favor. If there were ever a time and a place to turn around his career trajectory, it is right here and right now.
He has Myles Jack, Brian Flores, Mike Tomlin, T.J. Watt, and Cameron Heyward all in the same building and all rooting for him to get better.
The Steelers may have declined Bush’s 5th-year option but that does not have to be the coffin nail for Bush’s football career or even his career in Pittsburgh.
Terrell Edmunds had his 5th-year option declined, then was brought back. But Bush has a long ways to go if he hopes to resuscitate his football-playing career in Pittsburgh, or in the NFL in general, like Edmunds did.
Just like the offensive line, Bush is going to have a spotlight on him every single week and his redemption campaign can start at the Bengals, week one.
Myles Jack
I’ve been on the Myles Jack hype train since the moment the Steelers signed him during the offseason, and his impressive preseason has me even more excited for his debut in the Black and Gold.
A dynamic, athletic playmaker with a nose for the football, Jack already appears to be playing faster and looser than he was at the end of his run in Jacksonville.
The Steelers have been missing that well-rounded presence in the middle of the field behind their defensive front since the tragic injury of Ryan Shazier.
Devin Bush has clearly not panned-out as a prospect; not only taken in the first round, but traded up to acquire. The Steelers knew, going into the offseason, what the biggest weakness in their front seven was, so they went out and grabbed a talented former first-round pick who never got a real chance to shine due to being drafted by the “Bermuda Triangle of NFL talent” that is the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Jack has a chance to hit the ground running in his debut in the Black and Gold facing off against the division rival Cincinnati Bengals. Heyward, Watt, and Jack. Let’s ride.
George Pickens
I cannot remember the last time there was this much excitement around a rookie coming out of Steelers training camp.
Not T.J. Watt, not Ryan Shazier, not Le’Veon Bell – maybe not even Ben Roethlisberger.
George Pickens has been a human highlight reel since the moment the Steelers drafted him. If all of the prognostications are to be believed, Pickens will be the next name added to the incredible list of talented wide receivers drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Had to ask Steelers WR George Pickens about this Internet-famous photo. Yes he's seen the memes and finds them funny.
As for that pose: "Literally, someone caught me at a weird angle at a weird time. I stood up out of a chair, I had the ski thing on, that took it over the top." pic.twitter.com/DP0ydGSxTo
— Brian Batko (@BrianBatko) May 26, 2022
How much more hype can I give to Pickens that hasn’t already been put out there?
Pickens is one of the Vegas favorites to win Rookie of the Year – his road to that prize begins this Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals. Nothing more to say about Pickens, I’m just ready to watch him play.
