Let's get to it:
BRIAN BOYCE FROM SPRINGBORO, PA: I love the Zach Frazier pick at center in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft. My concern is all of the talk of him being a starter on Day 1. Correct me if I'm wrong: We had two Hall of Fame centers (Mike Webster and Dermontti Dawson), and neither of them were Day 1 starters at the position. It is my understanding that it's a bigger jump from college to the NFL at center than other offensive line positions. Was Maurkice Pouncey given time to develop or was he a Day 1 starter? Are you concerned about Frazier being pushed into the starter's role too quickly?
ANSWER: All of the "talk" about Zach Frazier being a Day 1 starter at center hasn't come from anyone of authority with the Steelers. It either has been media buzz or speculation. The other issue is this: When the Steelers drafted Mike Webster in 1974, they had veteran Ray Mansfield as their starting center, a center who started through the 1976 season, a center who started in Super Bowl IX and Super Bowl X, one of 5 players (along with Rocky Bleier, Sam Davis, Andy Russell, and Bobby Walden) who survived Chuck Noll's purge when he was hired in 1969 through the winning of Super Bowl IX. When the Steelers drafted Dermontti Dawson in the second round of the 1988 NFL Draft, they had Webster at center. When Maurkice Pouncey was drafted in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft, they had Justin Hartwig at center, who was no Mansfield or Webster. When Frazier was drafted in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft, the Steelers already had cut Mason Cole, their starting center in each of the previous two seasons. Professional football at the NFL level often is a game of options. When the Steelers drafted Webster and Dawson, they had options. When they drafted Pouncey, they had a need. See where I'm going with this?
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MICHAEL ROBERTS FROM ELIZABETHTOWN, KY: Looks like there will be some significant camp battles this year. Assuming you'll be there for a lot of it, which are you most looking forward to seeing on both sides of the ball?
ANSWER: The way I see it, the competition in many of the "camp battles" is going to be more about how the new players adapt to the Steelers' offensive and defensive systems, and in the case of the rookies, how they adapt to that as well as the jump in competition from college football to the NFL. And one of the things I re-learn every summer is that what we see during training camp isn't as significant as what we see during the preseason games, and what last year re-taught me was what we see during the preseason isn't always a forecast of what we'll see come the start of the regular season.
ADAM FELDERMAN FROM TUCSON, AZ: Can you please explain what happens to a player when his fifth-year option is declined?
ANSWER: The only players who have a fifth-year option are guys who were first-round draft choices. In the case of a player who has the fifth-year option in his rookie contract declined, he becomes an unrestricted free agent after his fourth NFL season. He still can be re-signed by the team that originally drafted him, but that has to happen after his fourth NFL season instead of after his fifth NFL season.
DAN CORWIN FROM PENSACOLA, FL: When I was a kid, you could find Steelers team photos like the ones immortalized on Iron City beer cans. Do the Steelers still sit for a team photo each season?
ANSWER: Yes. The Steelers have a team photo taken at the start of every regular season – as they have done ever since they joined the NFL in 1933 – and the exact date of the photograph has come to be usually a day or two before the home opener.
DOUG RENSI FROM AUSTIN, TX: In your response to the last question in the April 30 Asked and Answered, you mentioned that the league has rules regarding jersey numbers available to players based on their position. I thought the league had done away with that recently as I see receivers wearing single-digit numbers and numbers in the teens, and other positions wearing non-traditional numbers. Would you clarify, please?
ANSWER: According to Operations.NFL.com, "An update to the NFL Rulebook allows defensive backs, tight ends, wide receivers, running backs, fullbacks, H-backs, and linebackers to choose from a wider range of available numbers, including single digit numbers. The rule change proposal was submitted by the Kansas City Chiefs to the NFL Competition Committee and approved by owners on April 21, 2021. After practice squads were expanded for the 2020 season, some teams did not have enough jersey numbers available at certain positions. On March 28, 2023, the Philadelphia Eagles' proposal to the NFL Competition Committee was approved by owners to allow greater flexibility to jersey numbers including wearing the number zero."
As current examples, wide receivers now are allowed to wear jersey numbers in the single-digits, but they cannot wear numbers in the 50s, 60s, or 70s; offensive and defensive linemen are not permitted to wear numbers from 0-49 or from 80-89. The numbering rules have been relaxed, but not eliminated.
CHAUNCEY ORANGE FROM TAOS, NM: The Steelers didn't exercise the fifth-year option on Justin Fields. What does that mean in practical terms? The Steelers instead see how the 2024 season plays out at quarterback and decide what, if any, contract – duration and financial amount – they offer him? I understand Najee Harris is in a similar situation, but the team has more direct knowledge of his worth and production from game performance.
ANSWER: In my opinion, the major issue with Justin Fields is the amount of the fifth-year option on his contract, which would be in the neighborhood of $25 million guaranteed for the 2025 season. And remember, Fields' expected role in 2024 – his first season in a Steelers uniform – is as the backup to Russell Wilson. That's way too much salary cap space to allocate to a backup quarterback, especially one with whom the Steelers have no direct experience. And as I explained in a pervious answer in this installment, exercising or declining the fifth-year option has nothing to do with whether the team and the player come to an agreement on a contract extension, but it does impact when the player becomes an unrestricted free agent.
JOHN M. WASHINSKY FROM CLEMMONS, NC: The Steelers drafted inside linebacker Payton Wilson. Talking heads say that he would have been a first-round pick but for his serious ACL injury. Looking at the game videos, it didn't look like it slowed him down. Were there any Steelers with such a serious ACL injury who not only continued his career but exceled?
ANSWER: I am not an orthopedic surgeon, and I don't feel comfortable impersonating one for Asked and Answered. But both Hines Ward and Greg Lloyd had long, productive NFL careers despite ACL issues. It has been reported that Ward came to the NFL missing an ACL as the result of a bicycle accident he sustained as a boy, and Lloyd tore an ACL early in his rookie year, and he missed all of that season and part of the next season after having major surgery.
DENNIS TAYLOR FROM ERIE, PA: I see Troy Fautanu picked his jersey number. When will the other draft picks get their jersey numbers?
ANSWER: The Steelers will conduct their rookie minicamp on May 10-12 at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, and because the players attending will take part in some on-field drills everybody will be wearing a practice jersey with their number on it.
KHARI CLEMMONS FROM McALPIN, FL: I really thought I finally had a fair grasp on the compensatory draft pick system. I thought it was a system that compensated teams with commensurate draft picks for losing players in free agency. Can you explain how we received a compensatory pick (not that I'm complaining) for trading Kenny Pickett?
ANSWER: The Steelers traded Kenny Pickett to the Eagles along with their fourth-round pick (120th overall) in exchange for a third-round pick (98th overall) and a pair of seventh-round picks in the 2025 NFL Draft. The third-round pick the Steelers acquired from the Eagles in the trade, that 98th overall pick that was used to select inside linebacker Payton Wilson, originally was a compensatory pick awarded to Philadelphia based on its free agent signings/losses during the 2023 offseason. Compensatory picks awarded for the 2024 NFL Draft are based on teams' signing/losing free agents in 2023; it will be the compensatory picks awarded for the 2025 NFL Draft that will be based on the teams' signing/losing free agents in 2024.
AL WARNER FROM EAST SPRINGFIELD, PA: Some of the most memorable plays in Steelers history occurred when Antwaan Randle El was lined up in the backfield. Can you foresee Justin Fields being utilized in a similar manner?
ANSWER: Antwaan Randle El was a quarterback in college, and he knew he was going to have to transition to wide receiver in the NFL. And Randle El even did wide receiver drills at the NFL Combine to show scouts he could handle that position switch. Justin Fields was a quarterback in college, he was highly drafted in the NFL to be a quarterback, and that's going to be his position as long as he is a professional. There's no comparison between the two.
NICK POLATSO FROM WINSTON, MT: Given the current wide receiver situation, would the Steelers consider a reunion with free agent Chase Claypool?
ANSWER: Between the time your question was submitted and today's publication date, Chase Claypool signed a one-year contract with the Buffalo Bills. But even if Claypool still was a free agent, I could not imagine a realistic scenario where the Steelers would have had any interest in bringing him back.
