After the Pittsburgh Steelers signed castoff free agents Melvin Ingram and Trai Turner, it was completely fair of Steelers fans to wonder if either player has much left in the tank.
Turner spent most of last year hurt, playing only nine games thanks to ankle and groin injuries. When he did play, he was awful. Pro Football Focus rated him as the second-worst guard in the NFL.
Ingram had no sacks and played in just seven games during a 2020 campaign that was hampered by a nagging knee injury.
However, these two players do have a combined eight Pro Bowls, three for Ingram and five for Turner.
Gilbert Manzano joined the “Breakfast With Benz” podcast this week. He covers the Chargers for the Orange County Register and the L.A. Daily News. He told me that the path to career rejuvenation in Pittsburgh is much clearer for Ingram.
“With Ingram, it’s a little different,” Manzano said. “Because when he played, he was very good. With Turner, he wasn’t that good on tape. When Ingram was available, he still had explosiveness. He was still athletic. He had those spin moves. He still could bull rush and create pressure.
“If you watch the tape, you see the pressure. You see the hurries. You see the hits. You see that he was always throwing off the quarterback in different types of ways.”
That lends credence to Doug Farrar’s story that he posted for USA Today’s Touchdown Wire this week. Farrah pointed out that an injury-plagued Ingram had six hits and 22 hurries in just 236 pass-rushing snaps in 2020, despite failing to record a sack.
For as much as Ingram may have benefited playing across from Pro Bowler Joey Bosa in Los Angeles the last five years, he expects the chemistry to be even better opposite T.J. Watt in Pittsburgh.
“T.J. Watt and Melvin Ingram have the same style,” Manzano said. “They are like the nine-tech on the outside. They love that edge to come around with speed and get to you.
“Joey Bosa had his hand in the dirt. And he was power. He is massive. And he could use his power to be an inside guy … So maybe having two guys on both edges, maybe that’s what you want to do. Have them on different sides and really work them out.”
As for the 28-year-old Turner, Manzano says the Steelers simply have to hope that an excellent player just had a really bad year after making a transition from the Carolina Panthers before 2020 began.
“He went to five straight Pro Bowls. I know we didn’t see it with the Chargers, but that play can’t just disappear. Especially for a guy who is still in his twenties.” Manzano said.
“I think that if Trai Turner is right on it — maybe that pandemic threw him off a year ago — if he is already focused and (thinking) ‘I got cut for a reason. I’ve got to turn it up and improve my play.’ Maybe he is fighting for another contract as well … If he is really motivated, going back to the Carolina days, I think Trai Turner is going to be a big get for the Steelers.”
Also in the podcast, Manzano talks about how former Steeler Matt Feiler may fit in with the Chargers, the de facto swap that occurred between Feiler and Turner and how former Chargers fullback Derek Watt is panning out in Pittsburgh.
