If you thought things were tough for the NFL in terms of evaluating college football players, you ain't seen nothing yet.
With about half of college football still scheduled to play in the fall and the other half now planning a season in the spring, the process got a lot longer -- and perhaps more convoluted for Steelers GM Kevin Colbert and his scouting staff.
"Everything is so unknown," Colbert said Wednesday. "The schools that aren’t playing in the fall, they’re hoping to play in the spring. How does that affect a possible all-star game or a combine situation? Nobody knows because until we get our dates, we just have to work under the assumption things haven’t changed yet. In doing that, we have to cover schools that are playing, and we also have to evaluate the schools that aren’t playing on their film from 2019. If they play in the spring of 2021, we can add that to our evaluation."
And that doesn't even begin to include the dozens of players who have already opted out of participating this season and the dozens of more who will surely do so.
A number of high-profile players have already opted out. In fact, the Associated Press released its preseason All-America team earlier this week and it included five players -- including defensive tackle Jaylen Twyman of Pitt and Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons -- who have already told their schools they aren't playing this year.
For the players, it's a calculated move. They feel like their 2019 tape is good enough for them to be drafted highly. They don't want to risk injury. But it could hurt them in some cases.
"As we move into this year, the guys that are playing will be able to give us some type of 2020 film, which quite honestly, I will be much more comfortable in evaluating a player that plays in 2020 more so than the guy that doesn’t," Colbert said. "When you take over a year plus maybe two or three months off from the game of football, I don’t know what kind of player you are going to be coming out of it. Any way that a young man can play this given season, I think it will benefit him because we will have newer, fresher and a better understanding of what he may be moving into the NFL."
As reported on this site in last week's Friday Insider, NFL teams still haven't gotten the OK to send scouts visit college campuses to watch practices and gather information. They'll be able to go and watch games, but that's it.
It's all going to make for a 2021 offseason that will be like no other before it. In fact, it will be the exact opposite of what happened this year. Teams had plenty of game film but no on-campus workout numbers from which to work. Next year, they'll likely have workout numbers but little game tape for those who opted out.
• The inclusion of former Steelers scout and assistant personnel director Bill Nunn among the finalists for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame next year is a no-brainer. In fact, it should have happened years ago.
But the problem for such a long time with the voting process was that people such as Nunn were up against players, coaches and even owners when it came time for inclusion into the hall.
That was changed a few years ago to get more contributors to the game selected.
Fact is, Nunn should have been one of the first contributors to make it.
What he did to open the doors for players from historically black colleges to get into the NFL is legendary. And it goes beyond what he did with the Steelers, who hired him in 1968. For example, he vouched for a young defensive end named Deacon Jones to be drafted by the Rams in 1961, albeit in the 14th round out of Mississippi Vocational College (now Mississippi Valley State).
But it was his work with the Steelers that really opened the door for players from historically black universities. Nunn was instrumental in the selections of such players as Mel Blount, John Stallworth, Dwight White, Ernie Holmes and others. The list goes on and on.
There might not have been the Super Steelers of the '70s without Nunn's contributions.
"He was just that guy," said Colbert. "He could tell stories outside of football. His telling of a story of taking Roberto Clemente to the airport right after the 1960 World Series was just one of many interactions. He could drop Jackie Robinson’s name, and he didn’t say Jackie Robinson. He said, “Well, when I met with Jackie back in the day”, or an entertainer or Joe Louis. It was just never ending."
His stories might have been never ending. But the Pro Football Hall of Fame, for which he is all but ensured of being voted into early next year, is the perfect spot for Nunn's stories to be told.
• The Ben Roethlisberger documentary, of which the first episode was released Wednesday, was an interesting one.
If you wondered why Roethlisberger didn't respond to the constant criticism regarding his leadership -- or accused lack thereof -- for the Antonio Brown breakup a couple of years ago, it's must-see.
As those who criticized Roethlisberger at the time would later finally figure out, Brown had lost all touch with reality.
But while Roethlisberger was able to brush those things off, and as Mike Tomlin mentioned that it served no purpose to respond to those allegations, it was notable that it is difficult on the player's family to see that kind of stuff. Especially when they know better.
The inclusion of Ashley Roethlisberger, who's not a public figure, in the series bring a human touch to the whole thing.
Roethlisberger, by the way, is still waiting for the apologies from all the people who heaped criticism on him for not bending over backward to make things continue to work with a teammate who, in the time since, has shown that he's beyond any kind of redemption.
• How NFL teams deal with social justice issues and what they might or might not do on game days as part of that is a big topic on social media.
The Steelers have never had a player take a knee prior to a game during the playing of the national anthem. And when Cam Heyward addressed the issue of whether or not the team might have someone do it this year, he was adamant that whatever the Steelers did do, they would do as a team.
That directive, it appears, comes from the top.
"As an organization, we will come to an understanding of the current situation," Colbert said. "Mr. (Art) Rooney, we don’t like to say a directive from him, but the suggested behavior of what the organization or how the organization would address it. That would be upon recommendations from not only myself but Coach Tomlin, the players and of course, the Rooneys."
• Note to national guys. If you want people to read your stuff, at least try to get things right when describing the competitions going on at training camps.
I realize it's difficult to track the competitions for 32 NFL teams, but if you're writing something about the Steelers and you still -- three weeks into this thing -- have Stefen Wisniewski on the depth chart as the starting left guard, I'm not going to read any of your other analysis of other teams, either.
Tomlin announced in the spring that Matt Feiler was going to get the first opportunity to start at left guard. Nothing has changed on that front three weeks into camp. And there's been nothing to this point to suggest the Steelers won't stick with that and use Wisniewski as their swing interior lineman.
So no, the Steelers are not going to have four starters on their offensive line who are over 30, which is something I keep reading again and again in what I can only consider lazy analysis.
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