The Steelers will take to the football field a different team that the one we last saw lose, 45-42, to Jacksonville in an AFC Divisional playoff game.
Mike Mitchell? Gone. Martavis Bryant? Traded to Oakland for a third-round draft pick. There are some others who are gone, as well, Chris Hubbard, Arthur Moats and William Gay among them.
With players having left, either on their own or with a little help, there are some corresponding moves made to replace them. And with plenty of new faces, there also will be plenty of new story lines for the Steelers heading into the on-field portion of OTAs starting Tuesday. The team will practice 10 times in the next three weeks, then get together for minicamp June 12 through 14 before breaking until the start of training camp in late July.
That's not a lot of practice time but it's the time the coaching staff has to figure out some of the following issues and dynamics:
1. WHO STARTS AT FREE SAFETY?
Mitchell started at free safety for the Steelers the past four seasons but was jettisoned in the offseason both because his play had slipped and because his salary ballooned and the team could clear $5 million in cap space by doing so. Backups Robert Golden and J.J. Wilcox also were let go.
Mike Tomlin said prior to the draft that free agent signing Morgan Burnett would get the first shot at free safety when OTAs opened, but that was before the Steelers selected two more safeties in the draft, including Terrell Edmunds in the first round. Options, options.
Sean Davis also could move over from strong safety, but with the addition of two safeties in the draft and one in free agency, the team won't likely feel the need to try Cameron Sutton out there as it had been planning.
2. PICKING SIDES
As reported here a while back, the Steelers were considering flipping outside linebackers T.J. Watt and Bud Dupree to get Watt on the strong side of the offense to better take advantage of his coverage skills.
This week could be our first look at that if the team chooses to follow through on the idea. It also could be something that waits until a little farther down the road. We'll see.
But there also are some openings behind those two, as well, with James Harrison released last December and Moats not brought back. Anthony Chickillo will be the primary backup at both spots, but 2017 seventh-round draft pick Keion Adams will get a strong look, as well.
3. REPLACING SHAZIER
The Steelers weren't adequately able to replace Ryan Shazier following his Dec. 4 injury because backup Tyler Matakevich was also injured in that game, suffering a shoulder issue that required offseason surgery to repair.
But Jon Bostic was signed in the offseason and Burnett, Edmunds and fifth-round pick Marcus Allen also figure into the equation as coverage linebackers. Again, options, options.
The coaching staff also has had a lot of time to think about how it wants to attack this problem now, as opposed to trying to fill the hole in the middle of a playoff run. It could lead to some interesting solutions.
4. QUARTERBACK DYNAMICS
Ben Roethlisberger obviously wasn't happy the Steelers selected Mason Rudolph in the third round with the pick acquired for Bryant. And he wasn't shy about letting the world know.
But the guess here is that he'll welcome the rookie into the fold along with Landry Jones and Josh Dobbs. It will be water over the bridge, as Bill Cowher once said in a famous malaprop.
Most have already come to the conclusion the Steelers won't keep four quarterbacks. But they have done so in the past -- back in 1995 -- when Neil O'Donnell, Mike Tomczak, Jim Miller and rookie Kordell Stewart were kept on the roster.
The reason for that was because the Steelers knew O'Donnell was headed for free agency -- he wound up signing a $25 million deal with the Jets in the following offseason. And Miller performed well enough in the offseason and training camp that year for the team to want to keep him around along with Tomczak and Stewart, who wound up playing some receiver.
None of this current group of quarterbacks is going to go play receiver or any other position, but Jones is only signed through this season. So if the Steelers do wind up releasing Dobbs, they could find themselves in the market for a third-string quarterback again next year.
5. WHO'S NO. 3?
As in who's the No. 3 receiver. Bryant was the No. 2 at least in name last season, but rookie JuJu Smith-Schuster's emergence made him expendable when the Raiders upped the ante to a third-round pick.
James Washington was selected in the second round to help ease the loss. But can he get up to speed quickly enough to be that guy, or will the Steelers have to count on Darrius Heyward-Bey, Justin Hunter or re-sign Eli Rogers?
Tomlin mentioned re-signing Rogers, a free agent who suffered a torn ACL and meniscus damage in the loss to the Jaguars, at the NFL meetings in March as if it were a fait accompli. It probably will happen, if just to give the team more options.
But can somebody else -- Marcus Tucker perhaps -- turn the heads of the coaching staff before Rogers is brought back before the start of training camp?
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