Let's get to it:
DAN TURAK FROM BRIELLE, NJ: Other than quarterback, if the Steelers had one position player obtain first-team All-Pro status over the course of this season, which position improvement would have the greatest impact on the Steeler's success this season?
ANSWER: The way I see it, there isn't just one correct answer to this question, but I'm going to go with George Pickens. I select Pickens, not for what his ascendance to first-team All-Pro might mean for the depth chart at wide receiver, but for what the production necessary to be voted first-team All-Pro would mean for the offense as a whole. To illustrate my point, there were 3 wide receivers voted to the 2023 Associated Press first-team All-Pro team: Tyreek Hill of the Miami Dolphins, CeeDee Lamb of the Dallas Cowboys, and Amon-Ra St. Brown of the Detroit Lions. Hill finished the season with 119 catches for 1,799 yards (15.1 average) and 13 touchdowns; Lamb finished with 135 catches for 1,749 yards (13.0 average) and 12 touchdowns; and St. Brown finished with 119 catches for 1,515 yards (12.7 average) and 10 touchdowns. Based on Pickens' statistics from 2023, there would be an increase of about 600 receiving yards and 7 touchdowns to the offense, plus whatever impact that would have in opportunities for others created by defenses having to concentrate on him more. I believe that would have a positive impact on the Steelers' ability to score points, which in turn would impact their overall success this season.
KEN WILSON FROM MILTON, FL: Who is responsible for blocking assignments during the game? Broderick Jones continually had a problem blocking Buffalo's defensive end and was never given any help. Why wouldn't a tight end be assigned to help?
ANSWER: During the preseason, the answer to your first question is nobody. Teams do not devise and practice game plans for preseason games, because that portion of the NFL calendar is used to evaluate personnel to help with the decision of cutting a 90-man roster down to a 53-man roster, which this year must be done by Aug. 27. Had that been a regular season game, a plan would've been put in place over the course of the week of preparation for how Broderick Jones was to be expected to handle Greg Rousseau, who was the 30th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, by the way. Then over the course of the game, if Jones was judged to need help, adjustments would've been made on the sideline between series. That's why fans should be conservative in giving too much credence to what happens during preseason games, good and bad.
MIKE MASSIE FROM WAYNESVILLE, NC: I read a historical list of starting quarterbacks for the Steelers, and it listed Bill Dudley as a starting quarterback in 1942 and 1946 with 26 starts at quarterback. Is this true? I always thought he was mainly a halfback, but I know in those days, players often played multiple positions, sometimes offense and defense.
ANSWER: In those two seasons – 1942 and 1946 – the Steelers ran a single-wing offense, and without getting too in the weeds about alignment and the assignments of the backs in a single-wing offense, the key player in the single-wing was the tailback. The quarterback in the single-wing often was used as a blocking back/signal-caller; the tailback typically took the snap from center (similarly to what now is known as Wildcat) and he either ran the ball himself or threw the ball to players then known as the left end and right end. Anyway, Dudley led the NFL in both rushing attempts (162 in 1942 and 146 in1946) and rushing yards (696 in 1942 and 604 in 1946). By comparison, during those same seasons he completed 36.4 percent of his passes for fewer yards than he accumulated rushing. Also back in those days, positions were more fluid, guys played both ways – Dudley led the NFL in interceptions with 10 in 1946, and also served as the punter and placekicker. There may be lists that include Dudley as a quarterback, but during his two full seasons with the Steelers he was a single-wing tailback.
DAMIANE SCOTT SR. FROM PITTSBURGH, PA: How many more wins does Mike Tomlin need to pass Chuck Noll as the winningest coach in Steelers history?
ANSWER: Chuck Noll retired with 209 victories, including playoffs. Mike Tomlin enters the 2024 season with 181.
HOWARD ASHCRAFT FROM LANSING, MI: If a player is released with an injury settlement, does that amount plus signing bonus money both count against the cap?
ANSWER: Yes. And it counts on the salary cap immediately.
LARRY LASH FROM TARENTUM, PA: Brandon Aiyuk trade rumors are all over the place. Is this going to become a distraction if a deal isn't done before the regular season begins? I'm concerned with how George Pickens and Van Jefferson might respond to all this hoopla.
ANSWER: I'm more leery of the outside response to any resolution of what you refer to as the "Brandon Aiyuk trade rumors." Regardless of the outcome, the overreaction figures to be epic.
AMY NICOLAZZO FROM AKRON, OH: I'm assuming practice squad players are paid, and also assuming that it must be, relatively speaking, a minimum amount. So, is the primary impetus for staying on a practice squad the hope of someday being elevated to the team itself? Can a practice squad player leave and go to another team's practice squad at will or are they under contract?
ANSWER: Yes, your perception of whether and how much practice squad players are paid is correct. I believe that in most cases the reason a player signs to the practice squad is because it's an NFL paycheck, and those are not easy to come by. Players are able to move from one team's practice squad to another team's practice squad, but that's rare throughout the league, maybe because guys prefer a situation they know. If a team wants to sign a player to its roster off another team's practice squad, that's legal as long as the new team keeps him on its active roster for at least three games. Players largely accept those offers, because the jump in pay is too significant to ignore and very well could lead to a longer-term spot on a 53-man roster.
CRAIG MAYLE FROM OGDEN, UT: As the Steelers' final preseason game approaches, are there any preseason games from past years that stand out to you as particularly memorable?
ANSWER: I understand that NFL preseason football has a purpose, both from an athletic perspective in that it's necessary to prepare the athletes, as well as from the economic aspect in generating revenue that becomes part of the pool that determines the salary cap, which is part of a business model that allows all teams to be competitive, which then drives interest to the product and enhances its appeal to the public. But preseason football doesn't interest me because I lack the expertise required to watch game video and then evaluate performances of individuals or position groups or units as a whole. Because of that, I don't commit preseason games to memory.
So my No. 1 memory of preseason football would have to be this:
• I can't recall any specifics about the game – the opponent, the date, the site, the score – but after a dismal performance in a preseason game that was played a couple of days before a roster cut-down, Chuck Noll was asked whether that would make it more difficult to cut the roster. Noll answered, "The problem won't be cutting. It'll be stopping."
