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Report: Arthur Smith stopped letting Russell Wilson audible, caused divide
In this case, Wilson is right
At the tail end of the 2024 NFL season, there were reports that Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith and quarterback Russell Wilson were at odds with one another. When you lose five consecutive games, tensions are certainly high, but there was a question as to why there was tension between the two. According to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the issues stem back to Smith limiting Wilson.
Smith reportedly stopped letting Wilson change calls at the line of scrimmage.
“Multiple sources have told the Post-Gazette the offense lacked imagination and that the audibles and route adjustments Wilson was making at the line of scrimmage were creating a conflict with offensive coordinator Arthur Smith… According to several sources, Smith did not want Wilson changing plays at the line of scrimmage, like he did in Cincinnati, and deviating from the game plan.”
While many fans and media members, myself included, laid a lot of the blame on Wilson for the shortcomings of the offense, this makes Smith look petty and resentful. Wanting to run the ball is one thing, but when it isn’t working and a veteran future Hall of Fame quarterback has the smarts to check out of a play and audible to a successful play. If the run game worked, then perhaps Smith would have an argument, but the run game stunk. And instead of leaning into Wilson being very smart pre-snap, he took that away and it hurt the Steelers, should these reports be true.
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Steelers Mock Draft Round-Up: WR remains a priority, defensive prospects heat up post-Senior Bowl
A look at the latest first-round projections for Pittsburgh around the NFL media landscape…
One week closer to the 2025 NFL Draft means it is time to check the updated first-round projections for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The immediate thought for most seems to continuously be the Steelers selecting a wide receiver at pick No. 21. However, the possibilities are endless with this draft class, and there could be some surprises still on the board when the Steelers choose. Without further adieu, let us look at this week’s projections around the media landscape.
Matthew Golden, WR, Texas
Jack Markowski, Sports Illustrated
In his lone year at Texas after transferring from Houston, the 21-year-old logged 576 yards and eight touchdowns during the regular season. He subsequently posted a career-high 162 yards in the SEC Championship Game before finishing with 249 yards over three College Football Playoff contests.
A standout route runner and fluid athlete who’s plenty versatile, Golden may be the missing piece for Pittsburgh’s offense.
Bryce Lazenby, Sporting News
With the 21st pick, I have the Steelers opting to upgrade the wide receivers room. This isn’t an especially deep quarterback class, so there’s no need to reach here when there are other talented players.
Matthew Golden transferred to Texas after spending two seasons at Houston. The speedy wide receiver fit in well in the SEC, catching 58 passes for 987 yards and nine touchdowns in 2024.
Golden explodes off the line of scrimmage and is a polished route runner. The receiver doesn’t have the biggest frame but is still often successful in jump ball situations. Golden could thrive opposite George Pickens and give whoever is playing quarterback another reliable option.
Emeka Egbuka, WR, Ohio State
Curt Popejoy, Steelers Wire
The Steelers had their pick of wide receivers with Emaka Egbuka and Matthew Golden on the board. We don’t think the Steelers could go wrong with their but we opted for Egbuka for his elite blocking.
Matt Miller, ESPN
Egbuka does it all as a slant-route king. He is a heck of a punt returner and one of the best blocking wide receivers, too. He doesn’t flash elite speed or size at 6-foot and 203 pounds, but he’s a smart route runner with solid hands (a drop rate of just 2.8%) and an all-out effort on every snap. He caught 81 passes for 1,011 yards and 10 touchdowns this past season.
The Steelers need to start thinking about rebuilding their wide receiver room if George Pickens doesn’t return after his rookie deal expires before the 2026 season. And regardless of Pickens’ future, the team could use a true No. 2 receiver right now. Pairing Egbuka with Pickens and 2024 rookie Roman Wilson would be a good start.
Will Johnson, CB, Michigan
Eric Edholm, NFL.com
I don’t believe Johnson is the top-10 lock some seem to think he is, with the big corner facing injury and speed questions ahead of the NFL Scouting Combine, but his skill set could bolster Pittsburgh’s secondary.
Azareye’h Thomas, CB, Florida State
Josh Liskiewitz, PFF
Thomas has excellent size at 6-foot-1 and 191 pounds, and he uses his length and frame effectively in man coverage. He gave up completions on less than 48% of throws into his coverage in each of the past two seasons and forced a combined 20 incompletions and two interceptions over that span.
Walter Nolen, DT, Ole Miss
Chris Halicke, DK Sports Pittsburgh
Nolen was among the standouts at the Senior Bowl. Despite being a projected second-round pick by some draft sites, everything I heard about Nolen throughout the week is that he’s a first-rounder. Might be the second-best defensive tackle in this class behind Michigan’s Mason Graham.
The Steelers are prioritizing defensive line in this draft. And, based on my conversations with those involved with the team, I expect that focus to continue during the Combine. I wouldn’t rule out Ohio State wide receiver Emeka Egbuka at 21st overall if he’s available. However, in this particular mock, Egbuka didn’t fall past the Bengals at No. 17, which makes sense if Tee Higgins doesn’t re-sign there. Thus, I took Nolen here as the best player available.
Jahdae Barron, CB, Texas
Kyle Crabbs, The 33rd Team
The Steelers have a stout nucleus in place on defense. Between TJ Watt, Cam Heyward, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Patrick Queen, Keeanu Benton, Joey Porter Jr., and Alex Highsmith, the Steelers are going to be a tough draw annually on defense. But a second cornerback looms as a need and Pittsburgh would likely love the style of play that Jahdae Barron brings to the field. He feels like a Steeler.
How Super Bowl LIX matchup confirms the Steelers schedule was sabotaged
This column will probably generate some hate mail directed my way, but try and keep an open mind on this opinion piece as I vent about the collapse of the Pittsburgh Steelers 2024 season.
Pittsburgh started hot. A lot of analysts didn’t see that coming, but here at SCU we had a strong feeling that the team would bolt into the bye week with a winning record. My cohost Brian E. Roach and I were more bullish on this season than most, feeling the Steelers had a team capable of contending for a Super Bowl.
There was only one problem: a stretch of three games within eleven days. Okay, maybe two problems, since the Steelers didn’t play an AFC North division opponent until Week 11. That setup for HBO’s Hard Knocks takes a backseat to a larger issue during the home stretch of the season.
As Super Bowl LIX looms closer this weekend, one can only look at the participants in this big game as a glaring eyesore on the Steelers calendar. Headed into the 2024 season, we all knew how bad the eleven-day stretch was going to be, with two road games and a home contest played on, and broadcast exclusively by Netflix, on Christmas Day.
Yet, I’m not sure anyone could’ve envisioned the opponents in two of those three games – the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles – playing for the Lombardi trophy. That is, except for the NFL schedule makers.
The schedule makers are aware of every hurdle, every prediction, every revenge game, and every storyline possible when they structure the weekly matchups. They’re well aware that all three teams in that triple shot against the Steelers were playoff teams one year ago. They’re also cognoscente that the Chiefs are back-to-back Super Bowl Champions.
Even Vegas has a strong understanding of how the NFL might play out. FanDuel’s analysis of NFL matchups had the Chiefs and Eagles among the favorites to win this year’s big game. Yes, sometimes those sites get it wrong, but not often enough that they’re losing money!
I know a lot of this comes off as crying over spilled milk at this juncture. The Steelers shot themselves in their foot several times as they spiraled into a five-game losing streak to finish the season.
Naysayers will quip, “But Joe, they have to play who’s in front of them!” Others will critique how the other Christmas Day teams – the Baltimore Ravens, Houston Texans, and Chiefs – all had to play three games in eleven days too. However, those teams had an easier path through a similar slate.
The Chiefs, for example, started their eleven-day run by playing on the road at the then 3-10 Cleveland Browns in the standard Sunday 1 pm Eastern window. Kansas City returned home to host Houston before traveling to Pittsburgh.
That’s tough but a little more manageable than what the Steelers went through. It’s the way the Texans and Ravens were set up that should draw the ire of most fans. Three games in eleven days is brutal as-is, but when giving two of the four teams in the Christmas Day block a bye week before entering that portion of the calendar is a competitive disadvantage to say the least.
The Texans received a Week 14 bye before hosting the Miami Dolphins, traveling to the Chiefs, and then hosting the Ravens on Christmas Day. That’s a tough slate, but the bye week helps with rest and resetting due to an extra week of preparation.
The Ravens got the biggest gift of all among the four, with the Week 14 bye leading into their first game of the eleven days on the road at the 2-11 New York Giants. Ahead of the 2024 season, the Giants were coming off of a six-win campaign in which they were near the bottom of the NFL in both offensive and defensive ranks.
The Giants game enabled the Ravens to sit more starters as the game progressed into a 28-7 blowout by the fourth quarter. The smooth-sailing Ravens would then host the Steelers for what would end up being the de facto AFC North championship game before finishing off inside a dome on Christmas Day in Houston.
The Steelers were far less fortunate. The schedule makers did them no favors by shipping them off to Philadelphia, a place they haven’t won at since 1965, to kick off their eleven-day span. The matchup in the middle was the aforementioned AFC North title decider with the Ravens in Baltimore.
The schedule makers wrapped up the eleven days with Pittsburgh hosting the Chiefs on a Wednesday. That means the eleven-day, three-game span was bookended by both of this year’s Super Bowl contestants, the Eagles and Chiefs.
In hindsight, it looks terrible, but in foresight, it did too. Don’t forget that the NFL released the 2024 regular season schedule much later than usual. Speculation has it the Steelers were that reason, as they fought over the three-game block and the opposition they were up against: and rightfully so.
Heading into the year, everyone pointed fingers at the late division games and the eleven days as problematic. According to FanDuel odds to win the superbowl, the Steelers were positioned as underdogs, reflecting the challenges they faced in a highly competitive AFC North division. We knew then and we know now that facing the eventual two conference winners and a long-time rival for the division title – with two of those games on the road – would seem unsurmountable. And it was.
Rather than receiving a bye week like the Texans or Ravens, and a “gimme” opponent like the Giants or a similar bottom-feeder, the Steelers were fed to the Lions. Fatigue and injuries piled up, as the team coasted into Philly without Larry Ogunjobi, DeShon Elliott, and George Pickens. Those three would not heal up in time to play in Baltimore either, with starting CB Donte Jackson also ruled out.
It would prove too much to overcome as the next-to-last game against the two-time defending Super Bowl champions would place Pittsburgh out of contention for the division title and a potential home playoff berth. The further spiral would continue with two more division opponents – rematches with the Bengals and Ravens – down the path of the five-game losing streak.
So let Super Bowl LIX be a reminder that the NFL was out to sabotage the Steelers from the onset of their 2024 season. The stacked deck would’ve been difficult to overcome for almost any team, and the organization was well within their right to protest the shortcomings saddled to them by the NFL’s partnership with HBO and Netflix.
How Super Bowl LIX matchup confirms the Steelers schedule was sabotaged appeared first on Steel City Underground.
A Letter from the Editor: Myles Garrett requests a trade… Would Steelers edge T.J. Watt ever do the same?
Pittsburgh’s star edge rusher is still seeking his first playoff win
Despite finishing their 2024 campaign with yet another winning season under HC Mike Tomlin, the reigning theme for Pittsburgh Steelers fans this offseason has been one of frustration — frustration regarding another winless postseason and what appears to be another season without significant changes on the coaching front.
Pittsburgh fans aren’t the only ones frustrated in the AFC North, though.
Cleveland Browns DE Myles Garrett — reigning Defensive Player of the Year — is also frustrated. That frustration went on the record in a big way Monday, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter (among others) reported that Garrett had officially requested a trade.
In his official statement, Garrett said, “While I’ve loved calling this city my home, my desire to win and compete on the biggest stages won’t allow me to be complacent. The goal was never to go from Cleveland to Canton, it has always been to compete and win a Super Bowl.”
The contents of the statement are unsurprising. Of course, the ultimate goal of most every NFL player is to hoist a Lombardi Trophy, right? So, it would seem natural that those frustrations expressed by Garrett could foreshadow potential frustrations for Steelers star edge rusher T.J. Watt. Despite leading the NFL in sacks (108), tackles for loss (126) and forced fumbles (33), tacking on 49 passes defended and 7 INT — ridiculous coverage stats for a pass rusher — dating back to his drafting in 2017, Watt is still seeking his first NFL playoff win. Maddening, right? How could a player so talented and productive be stuck on a team so successful, yet so underwhelming?
It doesn’t take much imagination to imagine Watt approaching a similar level of frustration. How long can one reasonably be expected to trot out, giving his all, year after year, without a true lack of accountability on behalf of the front office and coaching staff for the team’s failures or any meaningful change within the organization?
Speculation regarding Watt’s state of frustration is all conjecture, of course. I do not claim to have any knowledge of personal frustrations from Watt or stirrings of a potential trade request now or at any time in the future. I do, however, have some experience with human emotions, the desire for greatness and the frustrations that arise when you’re not achieving it. Why would Watt, an ultimate competitor, former Defensive Player of the Year and the heartbeat of the Pittsburgh Steelers defense feel any differently?
The Steelers organization is one of loyalty — to a fault, in most cases. It’s been clear that Art Rooney II has no intention of turning his back on Tomlin and opting for a “fresh start” given the lack of recent playoff success or end-of-season collapses that feel like they’ve become the new “Standard.” At what point does that “loyalty” become “complacency”?
Watt will turn 31 years old in October; there’s no denying he’s very likely in the back half of his NFL career. Meanwhile, the Steelers’ late-season collapse and lack of a franchise quarterback indicate the Steelers may not be all that much closer to contention than the Cleveland Browns, despite Pittsburgh’s annual winning record.
It doesn’t seem all that likely that Watt would ever actually request a trade. But watching Cam Heyward loyally play his entire career in Pittsburgh without a Super Bowl to this point doesn’t exactly paint a picture of hope for Watt’s future, either.
Would you consider requesting a trade if you were T.J. Watt?
All-Pro wide receiver Cooper Kupp becomes available via trade for Steelers to pursue
The Steelers should attempt to trade for Kupp
As has been the case for the last calendar year, the Pittsburgh Steelers need help at wide receiver. They did nothing to replenish the loss of Diontae Johnson last offseason, and did nothing with Mike Williams after acquiring him at the trade deadline. If they want to make it back to the playoffs and make any sort of noise next January, they can’t make that same mistake twice, and it just so happens an All-Pro receiver has become available.
Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp announced on X that the Rams informed him they will be seeking trade partners immediately for the star wideout – a move the Steelers should absolutely make.
Kupp has transitioned into a WR2 role with the Rams over the last two seasons as Puka Nacua has emerged as one of the top pass-catchers in the league. And while he may not be at the level he was in 2021 when he won the triple crown, leading the NFL in catches, yards, and touchdowns, he is still a productive target that would slide right into a starting role with the Steelers and compliment George Pickens very well.
He’ll be 32 when the season starts, so it wouldn’t take a premium draft pick to land the Super Bowl LVI MVP. The Steelers have three seventh-round picks in the 2025 NFL Draft. Sending one of those paired with a fifth-round pick would be a fair price on both ends to get the job done.
Steelers Reacts Results: Fans think Justin Fields will start at QB in 2025 season
We asked. You answered.
It’s been a few weeks since the Steelers’ 2024-25 season ended with a playoff loss to the Baltimore Ravens. And the focus has already moved to rebuilding (or reloading, depending on your team philosophy) for the upcoming season.
Ahead of free agency, we polled Steelers fans on their thoughts on the team’s biggest roster needs, as well as their predictions for the outcome of the team’s quarterback situation:
Fans see wide receiver as Steelers’ biggest non-quarterback roster need
When given the options of wide receiver, defensive line, cornerback, and offensive line, fans overwhelmingly picked wide receiver as the Steelers’ biggest non-quarterback roster need entering the 2025 season.
It’s not a big surprise. The Steelers’ leading wide receiver in 2024 was George Pickens, who mustered just 900 yards and three touchdowns, while also drawing trade rumors in the offseason. Pittsburgh’s WR2 Van Jefferson had just 276 receiving yards, while WR3 Calvin Austin III recorded 548.
Arguably, general manager Omar Khan’s biggest misstep of last season was failing to properly build the receiver room; fans hope that won’t be the case again in 2025.
Fans predict Justin Fields will be starting quarterback in 2025
A whopping 81% of Steelers fans believe it will be Justin Fields, not Russell Wilson, starting at quarterback for the Steelers in the 2025 season. Although far from perfect during his time as a starter in 2024, Fields offers a younger, and likely cheaper, alternative to Wilson heading into the new season.
The Steelers have yet to make a choice at quarterback, but team president Art Rooney II spoke of bringing back one of the two for the new season. Reports have been unclear on which quarterback that could be.
As of right now, Skylar Thompson is the only quarterback under contract in 2025 for the Steelers.