Let's get to it:
JOHN MARTIN FROM ARENDTSVILLE, PA: It's already starting: Should they keep Russell Wilson? Should they keep Justin Fields? Should they get rid of coaches? Should they keep George Pickens? Should they keep Najee Harris? Who are they going to draft in the first round? AAAhhhhhhhh! Can we take a beat, let this year RIP and acknowledge the good things that were accomplished this year? I get the frustration and am not suggesting we settle for mediocrity, but come on. We should be able to show enough grace to thank the coaches and players for playing through the adversity, injuries and naysayers and for never giving up. I'm sure no one is more frustrated in the results than them. Hold your heads up and look forward to next year.
ANSWER: Wow. Thank you for a measured and reasonable reaction.
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BRUCE CROSS FROM ELIZABETHTOWN, PA: Assuming Troy Fautanu successfully returns from his injury, if he achieves 100 percent of offensive line metrics in 2025 resulting in team/league awards would he be considered a rookie or a veteran in doing so given he has not played a snap in 2024?
ANSWER: In an earlier installment of Asked and Answered, I erred when writing that Troy Fautanu didn't play a snap in 2024. In the Sept. 15 game vs. the Broncos in Denver, Fautanu started at right tackle and played 55 of the 66 snaps on offense that day. As a result, Fautanu will be a second-year pro in 2025. But even if he had not played a snap in the regular season, Fautanu still wouldn't be classified as a rookie in 2025. He would've been listed as a first-year pro.
NEIL HOFFMAN FROM RIDGWAY, PA: Who is the most recent "All-Pro" drafted by the Steelers?
ANSWER: The most recent Steelers draft pick to be voted first-team Associated Press All-Pro is T.J. Watt. The 30th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, Watt was voted first-team All-Pro in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2023.
ROB HARDY FROM SAN LUIS POTOSÍ, SLP, MÉXICO: I know you like to discard the fan opinions because you believe we do not know enough football. Well, what do you think about an opinion of certain person named Bill Cowher, who says the Steelers need a coaching change as well as on the roster?
ANSWER: As you do in so many of your submissions, you have mis-characterized what someone said in order to advance your opinion, which is why so few of your submissions are published. You infer that Bill Cowher said the Steelers need to make a change at head coach. What Cowher said was, "Probably need some changes on that football team, players, coaches. Right now, that (Wild Card Round Game vs. Baltimore is) going to stick with them for a long time. It's not that they lost. It's the manner in which they lost."
PANCHO SEGURA FROM MOROLEON, MX; Have the Steelers ever considered giving-up zone coverage? I remember a few years ago Mike Tomlin abandoned it to play Tom Brady. It worked. We won.
ANSWER: I believe the game you reference was played on Dec. 16, 2018, at Heinz Field, and the Steelers defeated New England, 17-10. But there were more factors in that victory than the Steelers playing man-to-man coverage. In fact, Tom Brady completed 69.4 percent that day for 279 yards, with 1 touchdown, 1 interception, and a rating of 89.9, which was higher than Ben Roethlisberger's that day. RB Jaylen Samuels rushed for 142 yards on 19 carries and added another 30 yards on receptions to finish with 172 yards from scrimmage, and the Patriots also sabotaged themselves with 14 penalties for 106 yards. Regardless, it's not wise for any team to abandon a certain kind of coverage these days, because what's not going to work against the caliber of pass offenses now rampant in the NFL is predictability. If Joe Burrow or Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes know what kind of coverage it's going to be on a down-to-down basis, they will find a way to defeat it. I'm not implying that there is anything wrong with man-to-man coverage, or that a team shouldn't incorporate it if it has the personnel. But doing one thing, the same thing, will not work over time.
ROB BEBOUT FROM SPRINGFIELD, OH: As disappointing as the latter half of this season was, the most frustrating to me were the 3 games in 11 days against 3 division champions. Would you agree? When I looked at the schedule, I figured 1-2 at best.
ANSWER: Yeah, but what about all of the good stuff they got for Hard Knocks (sarcasm). No one ever will be able to convince me that catering to Hard Knocks wasn't part of why the schedule was back-loaded the way it was.
JOHN GENSMAN FROM SEBRING, FL: It seems to me, the Steelers defense hasn't been great for a long time. In a 3-4 defense you need a really good nose tackle to have a top defense. Since Casey Hampton retired many years ago they have never been great. Do you think they would consider changing to a 4-3 and making T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith defensive ends as a possible solution moving forward?
ANSWER: T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith are not 4-3 defensive ends, and the Steelers play in their 3-4 base alignment about 30 percent of the time over the course of a season. In my opinion, what the Steelers must do is start treating their defensive line with the same urgency with which they have treated their offensive line in the past couple of drafts and free agency periods. For the purpose of this answer, I am defining "premium draft picks" as selections made in Rounds 1-through-3. Since Cam Heyward was a No. 1 pick in 2011, the Steelers have used only 3 "premium draft picks" on full-time defensive linemen. Keeanu Benton was a No. 2 pick in 2023; Javon Hargrave was a No. 3 pick in 2016; and Stephon Tuitt was a No. 2 pick in 2014. If a team needs better defensive line play, it must commit draft capital to the defensive line.
ED PRENETA FROM UNIONVILLE, CT: Are you optimistic about next season? There were losses during this season to teams with losing records; a 5-game losing streak culminating in the Steelers not showing up for the Wild Card Round game; Russell Wilson not likely the long-term future at quarterback. To what can we look forward?
ANSWER: "Last season" just ended what seemed like yesterday with a disappointing loss to the Ravens in the Wild Card Round, and I'm still digesting that. From a personal perspective, I need some time to decompress before turning the page, because the "season" started for me in late July at Saint Vincent College and didn't end until late on Saturday night, Jan. 11. If you don't want to take a page from the first submission in this installment, that's OK, but on Jan. 14, "next season" is a long way away for me. And there is a lot that will happen between now and late July to impact how fans perceive it.
