Mark Madden on Steelers: ‘The offense will be fine. It’s the defense I’m more worried about.’
No fireworks at the Point over the Fourth of July weekend. And no “Madden Monday” podcast either. I can’t do anything about the first problem. The other one I can rectify right now.
We post our weekly conversation a day late because of the holiday weekend, but Mark Madden and I cover a bunch of different sports stories today. One of the topics we tackle is if limited NFL participation this offseason will impact the Steelers more or less than other franchises.
I happen to think that the Steelers will feel less of a negative hit than most because the coaching staff is coming back intact. Nine of 11 starters on defense return as well.
But my optimism on that front is offset by the challenges faced in that regard on offense. As we mentioned while discussing the loss of the Hall of Fame Game, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger needs to get back up to game speed after nearly a full season on injured reserve.
He has little to no experience throwing to the likes of Diontae Johnson, Chase Claypool and Eric Ebron. And only one year’s worth with James Washington.
Matt Feiler is switching from offensive tackle to guard. A new starter at right tackle needs to be determined. Not to mention figuring out the workload at running back.
But every other team in the NFL has some sort of lineup questions or depth chart dilemmas as well. And I’d imagine the Steelers would be less hindered by lost work time than most of their competition given the relative cohesion between coaches and players, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
Mark disagrees.
“I think the offense will be fine,” Madden says. “It’s the defense I’m more worried about. I know that contradicts how great the defense played last year.
“But they don’t have (nose tackle Javon) Hargrave back. And I think (Tyson) Alualu is a shadow of what Hargrave provided.”
Mark sees inside linebacker as a potential problem.
“They haven’t replaced Mark Barron. So if Devin Bush gets hurt, it’s a major, major disaster,” Madden continues. “I am not counting on the defense playing anywhere near as well as it did last year.”
Also, Mark and I get into a glaring hole in the NHL’s return-to-play plans. We discuss Carey Price joining the Montreal Canadiens workouts. Plus, we mourn the passing of Charlie Daniels.
And we discuss what “Mark Madden’s America” would look like. I get the impression it’d be as dystopian as the last season of “Brockmire.”
But with more soccer.
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
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