Steelers News: Kwon Alexander earning everything with Pittsburgh LBs
Right after the start of Pittsburgh Steelers training camp, the club continued its defensive restructuring, specifically at the linebacker position, by adding veteran Kwon Alexander to the fold by signing him to a one-year deal, which the team then officially announced on Sunday.
Alexander spent last season with the New York Jets, playing in all 17 games and starting 12 while accruing 69 total tackles, six tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks and one pass defense on the season. The soon-to-be 29-year-old now joins a group that featured a bevy of newcomers in Elandon Roberts and Cole Holcomb, among others.
Adding a veteran like Alexander indeed could be a big factor in this defense maintaining its level of dominance from a year ago and, perhaps, even taking a step forward too. But it's already been made clear that the latest signing won't be gifted a starting job or any snaps at all — he's going to have to earn it.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin told Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that it's all about competition as they bring in Alexander, who they previously met with in May but didn't come to a deal with at that time:
"We're interested in competition, so we'll continue to have an eye for that, but it's not a new discussion. We've been in communication with Kwon and his people for the better part of the summer," Tomlin said. "Sometimes you wanna wait on decision-making in an effort to get quality looks at some of the young people that you're working with. There's a myriad reasons why we have certain timing regarding acquisitions or decisions."
There's no question that, if healthy, Alexander can join this group in Pittsburgh and help to improve upon the efforts of guys like Myles Jack, Devin Bush and Robert Spillane, all of whom are now gone from the organization. But it also speaks as to why this club hasn't finished under .500 since Tomlin took over as head coach too. These spots are earned on the Steelers depth chart, and the same is true for Alexander.
As of now, though, it appears that the competition of bringing in the veteran could elevate everyone in the linebacker room, which is what's best for Pittsburgh.
Steelers News: Najee Harris gets called about by LB Elandon Roberts
Elandon Roberts was signed by the Steelers in free agency as one of several pieces who are emblematic of a defensive retooling taking place in Pittsburgh this offseason. A longtime NFL veteran who has been on numerous playoff teams, he's making an impact right away — not the least of which is demanding more out of third-year running back Najee Harris.
During a July 28 practice, Roberts crashed downhill and forced Harris out of bounds for a negligible gain on the play. After the whistle, though, the veteran linebacker didn't let it die there, looking at the running back and telling him, "You better pick up your f*****g head," as reported by Mark Kaboly of The Athletic (subscription required).
Amid the NFL's ongoing running back drama featuring the likes of Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs and Jonathan Taylor, Harris is likely to be one of the next focal points of that conversation with just one year remaining on his rookie deal (not including the fifth-year option for the 2025 season that's yet to be decided upon).
Though Harris has notched at least 1,000 yards and seven touchdowns in each of his first two pro seasons, he's also averaged fewer than 4.0 yards per carry in each. With the improvements to the offensive line, the potential steps forward for Pickett and the passing offense, and the running back contract discussions, though, the pressure is on the former Alabama star to deliver his best season yet.
Roberts calling out Harris didn't result in anything beyond just that, which is what you want to see if you're a Steelers fan. A veteran player, even a newcomer, wanting to see more from a former first-round pick in a big spot to prove himself is the type of culture that breeds excellence.
Steelers News: Kenny Pickett showing why he'll make year 2 leap
The lion's share of the burden for the Pittsburgh Steelers getting back to the playoffs in the 2023 season will fall on the shoulders of second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett.
After taking over as the starter relatively early in his rookie campaign, Pickett flashed the reasons why the organization made him the only quarterback selected in the first round of the 2022 draft, but there were also some shortcomings. One of the primary criticisms of the quarterback was orchestrating a checkdown-heavy and, for lack of a better term, dink-and-dunk type of passing offense.
But apparently, that was by design and, more importantly, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is ready to take the training wheels off and let Pickett be more aggressive, which should lead to the quarterback making a leap in year two. Here's what Tomlin said about the change in offensive approach from 2022 to 2023 when speaking to the media, per NFL.com:
"As you search for splash plays, you open yourself to more negativity," Tomlin said. "We had a rookie quarterback a year ago — you've got to be mindful of getting him behind the chains, and the collective absorbing of too much negativity when they're young. He's a little bit older now, we're a little bit older now, and it's more just about more calculated risk-taking in an effort to get a desired outcome. But that's just a fact — as you search for chunk plays, the potential for negativity is probably more prevalent, and we just weren't interested in a whole bunch of negativity a year ago."
In addition to the "calculated risk-taking" though, the Steelers are also better positioned to ask Pickett to be more aggressive down the field. Not only does the addition of Allen Robinson make the receiving corps more dynamic, but the offensive line has been substantially improved, thus allowing Pickett to have more time upright to take deep shots and look for explosive plays.
Obviously, the talk of being more aggressive and Pickett making a jump in his level of play is great, but means nothing until we see it in a real game. With the information we have in training camp, though, the signs are there that QB1 is going to be in for a big year two.
