Photo: steelers.com
Training camp has reached the point where practice impressions need something more behind them. For the Steelers, that next test comes against Green Bay, with several jobs still unsettled and fewer chances remaining for players to make their case.
Mike McCarthy’s new offense complicates the evaluation in an interesting way. Pittsburgh isn’t simply deciding who played well in Latrobe. Coaches are figuring out who fits what they’re building. At running back, receiver and quarterback, and elsewhere on the roster, the preseason should begin separating possibility from actual roles.
Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle have spent camp competing for the starting running back job, a battle worth following alongside the broader Pittsburgh Steelers odds and expectations surrounding this offense.
There’s a new variable this summer: McCarthy’s system. Both backs have to show they can function within its demands rather than simply win individual practice periods.
The competition has had an appropriately physical edge in Latrobe. Warren and Dowdle have each had opportunities to establish themselves, yet the question of who ultimately leads the backfield remains open.
Green Bay changes the setting: should either play in this first exhibition game. A strong preseason performance, against unfamiliar defenders and at game speed, could carry more weight than another good afternoon on the practice field.
DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman Jr. provide certainty atop the receiving corps. After them, things become more interesting.
Roman Wilson and Germie Bernard are fighting for WR3 and slot work, and practice targets matter only so much. Coaches are also watching the details between those targets: how routes develop, whether separation arrives on schedule and how reliably each receiver handles his assignment.
The slot role carries real importance in McCarthy’s offense. Whoever earns those snaps will need to function around two established outside options without disappearing from the passing game.
It’s also notable that Wilson enters year three, after being replaced last season by two journeyman, veteran receivers. The Steelers wouldn’t have added those players, or drafted Bernard this year, if they were comfortable with Wilson’s progress.
Against Green Bay, Wilson and Bernard get a different kind of audition. Less controlled and perhaps, more revealing, as to Wilson’s future with the franchise.
Aaron Rodgers is the starter. That part isn’t complicated, particularly with Rodgers confirming that this will be his final NFL season.
What happens behind him is far less settled. Mason Rudolph brings the experience of a veteran who has already dealt with NFL pressure.
Rookie Drew Allar, meanwhile, has built momentum during camp, but has he moved ahead of Will Howard in the competition? And is it truly Rudolph versus Howard for the primary backup role?
This has created an unusual contrast: the known quantity against the younger quarterback beginning to push his way into the picture. Preseason football is built for decisions like this.
Against Green Bay, drives matter. So do mistakes, command of the offense and what happens when the play doesn’t unfold as designed.
Joey Porter Jr. and Jamel Dean occupy the established outside roles, leaving another competition to develop behind them. Asante Samuel Jr. and rookie Daylen Everette are pushing for the next spot in the cornerback rotation.
Everette’s progress is particularly worth watching. Young cornerbacks rarely get much room for error, and preseason snaps can expose weaknesses that controlled practices don’t always reveal.
Then again, NFL narratives show that Pittsburgh needs this depth. Modern offenses force defenses into nickel and dime packages constantly, turning the third and fourth cornerback spots into genuine responsibilities rather than ceremonial depth-chart positions.
Green Bay should offer both players plenty to process. Coverage is only part of it. Tackling, communication and recognition will matter, too.
Nobody needs to pretend the preseason score is the main attraction here. For Pittsburgh, the useful part of the Green Bay game will happen inside individual snaps, especially when players competing for the same work get comparable opportunities.
Warren and Dowdle still have a backfield to sort out. Wilson and Bernard have receiving snaps available. Rudolph, Allar and Howard are establishing the order behind Rodgers, while Samuel and Everette continue their own fight in the secondary.
Camp can suggest answers. Eventually, though, players have to produce them against somebody wearing a different jersey.
