Chris Adamski stories, Page 85
National analysts: Steelers aced Day 2, questionable Day 3, split on Kenny Pickett in Day 1
Just as seemingly everyone covering the NFL has a mock draft, those same analysts also seem to want to grade out each team’s draft within hours of its completion. None of the players taken have stepped onto a practice field for the new teams, but that doesn’t stop those from...
With legacy secure, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan’s next task is rediscovering playoff magic
Mike Rupp played under 10 head coaches and dozens of assistants over 11 NHL seasons spent with six teams. Three of those head coaches won the Stanley Cup before or during Rupp’s time with them. Several of the assistants did, too. Rupp quickly identified one of those myriad assistants with...
Little clarity on Steelers decisions related to Devin Bush’s option, Stephon Tuitt’s status
The questions needed to be asked of Kevin Colbert and Mike Tomlin, even if an on-the-record answer wasn’t likely to be provided. As if on cue, the Pittsburgh Steelers general manager and coach dutifully dodged shedding all that much light on two significant personnel decisions the franchise is dealing with....
Beaver Falls’ Donovan Jeter, Duquesne’s Jake Dixon among 10 Steelers UDFAs
Donovan Jeter and Jake Dixon are players with local ties among the 10 undrafted free agents the Pittsburgh Steelers added to their rookie class in the hours after the draft ended Saturday. Two each outside linebackers, running backs, offensive linemen and cornberbacks also were signed, allowing the Steelers to shore...
Steelers complete draft with 7th-round choices QB Chris Oladokun and LB Mark Robinson
The Pittsburgh Steelers completed their 2022 draft by taking two players who competed for three different college programs each. Linebacker Mark Robinson and quarterback Chris Oladokun were selected at Nos. 225 and 241 overall during the seventh and final round Saturday. Robinson played in 2021 at Ole Miss and Oladokun...
Steelers NFL Draft bio in brief: Ole Miss LB Mark Robinson
Mark Robinson Seventh-round pick, No. 225 overall Linebacker, Ole Miss 5-foot-11, 235 pounds Stats: Had 92 tackles during his only season at Ole Miss, including 79 over the final nine regular-season games. Added 8 ½ tackles for loss and three sacks. Hometown: Lessburg, Ga. Tidbits: Ranked 11th in the SEC...
Steelers draft Cameron Heyward’s brother, Connor, a Michigan State tight end
Call the Pittsburgh Steelers the team of brotherly love. With their sixth-round pick, the Steelers made it four sets of brothers on their roster by taking Michigan State tight end Connor Heyward with the 208th overall pick. Heyward is the younger brother of Steelers All-Pro defensive lineman Cameron Heyward. At...
Steelers NFL Draft bio in brief: Calvin Austin III
Calvin Austin III Fourth-round pick, No. 138 overall Wide receiver, Memphis 5-foot-8, 170 pounds Stats: Aggregate 2020-21, Austin had 137 catches for 2,202 receiving yards and 19 receiving touchdowns in 23 games. Adding in a rushing touchdown and two more on punt returns, he had 22 touchdowns over his final...
Steelers NFL Draft bio in brief: DeMarvin Leal
DeMarvin Leal Third-round pick, No. 84 overall Defensive linemen, Texas A&M 6-foot-4, 283 pounds Stats: As a junior this past season had 58 tackles, 12 1/2 for loss with 8 1/2 sacks, and two pass breakups in 12 starts. Was second on Texas A&M in QB hurries during both his...
Steelers take Georgia WR George Pickens with 2nd-round pick
The Pittsburgh Steelers have developed a pattern for building their wide receiver corps. They stuck to that script Friday. The Steelers chose Georgia’s George Pickens with their second-round pick, marking the fifth time over the past six drafts the Steelers took a wide receiver between the Nos. 49-66 selections. One...
Steelers NFL Draft bio in brief: Kenny Pickett
Kenny Pickett First-round pick, No. 20 overall Quarterback, Pitt 6-foot-3, 217 pounds Stats: Broke Pitt’s career passing records for yardage (12,303), completions (1,045), passing touchdowns (81), overall touchdowns (102) and QB wins (32). Last season alone, Pickett completed 67% of his passes for 4,319 yards, 42 touchdowns and seven interceptions....
Chris Adamski: Steelers can’t resist taking their swing at nabbing a franchise QB
Will they or won’t they? All of the oxygen for the immediate reaction of the 2022 Pittsburgh Steelers draft will be spent on whether they spent their first — or, perhaps, second — pick on a quarterback. For the first time in almost two decades, that’s a possibility for a...
Betting odds suggest confidence Steelers will pick QB in 1st round
The Pittsburgh Steelers taking a quarterback in the first round of the draft. Wanna bet? If so, at least according to one bookmaking website, odds are you’ll be correct. Bookies.com released its odds for the player the Steelers will select at No. 20 overall in the draft that begins Thursday...
Penguins mindful of — but not fixated on — Eastern Conference standings
The Eastern Conference playoff field is set. How it all shakes out, though, is yet to be determined. Barring a miracle, the Pittsburgh Penguins are locked into one of three postseason seeding spots: third place in the Metropolitan Division, the first wild card or the second (final) wild card. The...
Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry’s right foot in boot
Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry remains out, and his status remains termed as “week to week” with “a lower-body injury” by coach Mike Sullivan. The annual team photo Wednesday perhaps provided some hints to further provide clarity on Jarry’s ailment. Jarry’s right foot was in what appeared to be a...
Penguins add Phil Kessel’s sister, Amanda Kessel to front office
Just in time for the playoffs, the Pittsburgh Penguins added Kessel. Probably not the one you’re thinking, though. The organization announced Wednesday that Olympic gold medalist Amanda Kessel will be the inaugural participant in what the Penguins are calling their new executive management program. A three-time Olympic medalist for Team...
Steelers claim veteran WR Miles Boykin off waivers from Ravens
Adding to their wide receivers room nine days prior to the draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers claimed veteran Miles Boykin off waivers from the Baltimore Ravens on Tuesday. The NFL Network reported the move via a message posted to the verified Twitter account of reporter Mike Garafolo. Boykin was a third-round...
Recent goal streak puts spotlight on Danton Heinen’s productive debut season with Penguins
When Danton Heinen left PPG Paints Arena early in the evening April 9, he didn’t have much professional reason to celebrate. Heinen just endured a fourth consecutive loss with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He had scored in just one of his previous 13 games. Later that night, though, Heinen was celebrating...
Former Steelers assistant Kirby Wilson putting the ‘Pittsburgh’ in Pittsburgh Maulers
Kirby Wilson grew up in Los Angeles and went to college at Illinois. Over a coaching career that’s spanned 37 years, he’s lived on the West Coast, in New England, the upper Midwest, the Southeast. But in no one place during his adult life did he work longer than he...
Penguins notes: 1st game vs. Bruins since Brad Marchand attack of Tristan Jarry
A strict adherent to the athlete doctrine of focusing on his own game and not on the opponents’ strengths or other outside factors, Casey DeSmith insists he’s not fazed by facing the Boston Bruins and their aggressive net-front presence. DeSmith did, though, offer one caveat. “I guess I have to...
Needed now with Tristan Jarry out, Casey DeSmith’s confidence has been renewed for Penguins
By way of the Gregorian calendar, it was less than five months ago that Casey DeSmith opened the season with a personal four-game losing streak and bloated goals-against average. But to DeSmith, late-October through mid-November 2021 feels like a lot longer ago than that. “It’s ancient history,” the goalie said...
Pittsburgh Maulers season preview for 2022 USFL reboot
After waiting almost four decades, Pittsburgh on Sunday will have a professional football team to cheer on in the spring. The Maulers open play in a new incarnation of the USFL at 8 p.m. against the Tampa Bay Bandits on FS1. Like all USFL regular-season games in 2022, the game...
Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry has lower-body injury, will not play Saturday
Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry has a lower-body injury and is not traveling with the team to Boston for their game Saturday against the Bruins. Jarry was not at practice at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry on Friday, and coach Mike Sullivan said afterward that Jarry was being...
Former USC QB JT Daniels transfers to WVU, setting up reunion with Pitt’s Kedon Slovis
There is no public indication that the 2019 USC quarterback competition was anything but cordial. But for a reunion, the two primary participants might meet in a Brawl. Former Trojans quarterback JT Daniels is transferring to West Virginia, and in the Mountaineers’ season opener Sept. 1 he could be matching...
Widow of Steelers QB Dwayne Haskins thanks fans; memorial service set for Pittsburgh
The widow of Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Dwayne Haskins announced a memorial service would be held in Pittsburgh and thanked Steelers fans for their emotional support. In a statement released through the Steelers, Kalabrya Haskins addressed “every living soul who has supported our family during this arduous time of loss” by...
