Return to Steel Town

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Pittsburgh -- Welcome to the latest installment of my “Morning Coffee” blog, Steelers Nation. In this blog, I have some tidbits, musings and rumors to discuss. I’ll be doing a weekly report on all things related the Pittsburgh Steelers. That can be injury take, trade takes and even mock draft takes as the season progresses. Hope you join the discussion!

• The Steelers had a quiet free agency. Their biggest signing was punter Mitch Wishnowsky, who will serve as the punter. With the exception of trading for Jaquan Brisker – the Steelers weren’t active in free agency due to cap constraints. In the past few offseasons, they’ve signed Jabrill Peppers, Jeff Okudah, Willie Gay and Justin Madubuike as new starters.

From what I’ve heard around town, the Steelers are moving Jabrill Peppers to free safety with Jaquan Brisker remaining at strong safety. Peppers was signed as a luxury to be the team’s nickel cornerback but made the transition back to safety impressing the team during the 2024 training camp. How time flies. Peppers is a two-time Super Bowl champion now.

• The draft is right around the corner and everybody is asking who the Steelers are going to select. They signed defensive players in free agency and have gone after offensive players in the draft. Pittsburgh has spent six consecutive first round selections offensive players.

This year, they’ve been mocked heavily defensively in the first round. CB Aaron Huntington of Notre Dame was mocked to them in the first two drafts. Armon Fields was mocked to them in the third mock draft released. I don’t see the Steelers selecting cornerback in the first round after Jeff Okudah has emerged as a solid #2 opposite Joey Porter Jr. K.C. Chancey was mocked to them 32nd overall in the fourth mock and LaMichael Magee was mocked to them in the final draft, with K.C. Chaney going to Atlanta at #29.

Here is what I know. The Steelers really like defensive tackles K.C. Chaney and LaMichael Magee at 32. They’re projected anywhere from late first to early third. DT Daryl Valentine of Clemson is another player they like. They’ve also had official draft visits with RE Jashon Haden of Clemson and Matthew Wilkerson of Kansas State. Both are projected to be first or second round selections. A prospect who could become a Steeler on Day 3 is DT Stephen Henning of Michigan. He’s 6’4” and weighs almost 400 lbs. That’s right. He would be an absolute monster nose tackle in a 3-4 defense.

Another position flying under the radar is Strong Safety. Prospect Dexter Norman of USC is someone the Steelers entertained with one of their official draft visits. Another prospect the Steelers really like is FS Teddy Coleman of Stanford. He ran a 4.45 40 at the combine with 22 reps on the bench. He’s projected to go in the first or second round. Another alternative is FS Frank Gray of LSU. Jabrill Peppers is 31 and the Steelers will need to find a long term replacement at FS after losing Minkah Fitzpatrick. The Steelers also reportedly like SS Percy Day. He’s projected to be a Day 3 pick.

Looking deeper at the draft, the Steelers also had an official draft visit with inside linebacker Kurt Barkley of Florida State. He’s got good size and had an impressive 40 time at his pro day.

You can almost certainly mock the Steelers drafting a defensive tackle, defensive end or a safety with their first round selection.

• The contract details have been released. The Patriots signed Minkah Fitzpatrick to a huge 4 year, $105.6m contract. That’s an average cap hit of $26.4m. There was never going to be a chance the Steelers matching it. They decided to use their cap space on younger players who have more upside (Jamin Davis, Joey Porter Jr).

[moose141]

Congrats on the Super Bowl win! Reminiscent of Super Bowl XL: Steelers, Young QB, Beat the Seahawks. Bush put in a nice performance. Seems like a good thing you won this year because those are some serious changes to the team, talk about being a cutthroat GM. We will see how losing Harris and Minkah affects both sides of the ball.

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Quote: Originally Posted by moose141

Congrats on the Super Bowl win! Reminiscent of Super Bowl XL: Steelers, Young QB, Beat the Seahawks. Bush put in a nice performance. Seems like a good thing you won this year because those are some serious changes to the team, talk about being a cutthroat GM. We will see how losing Harris and Minkah affects both sides of the ball.

Thanks. The Super Bowl was a blast. Had a lot of fun with it.

Yeah the cap space screwed me over.

Draft Day tonight, have my draft board made and ready to go. Should be interesting what happens because at pick #32 it's out of your destiny

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