I feel like I’m alone on this.
I know why. But I can’t come off my island on this one.
Based on nothing but anecdotal conversations with some of my colleagues in the media and fans who follow the Pittsburgh Steelers, I get the sense there is heightened curiosity for training camp this year.
I don’t share it.
Don’t get me wrong. Don’t confuse that statement with a lack of interest in the season. Or the numerous questions surrounding the team.
I just don’t see any of those stories working themselves out at Saint Vincent. Do you?
For instance, there’s a group effort at wide receiver — a multitude of pass-catching options — to replace Antonio Brown. How that will work out come Week 1 of the regular season will not be dictated in Westmoreland County.
JuJu Smith-Schuster’s ability to beat double teams or the press coverage of another team’s top cornerback will not be evident against the permutations of the Steelers secondary depth chart during two-a-days.
Vance McDonald’s 16-game health, Diontae Johnson’s rookie learning curve, James Washington’s heightened development and Donte Moncrief’s addition won’t be things we truly get to see until the regular season starts.
Nor will Ben Roethlisberger’s spread-out, but-not-as-lush, passing tree.
The only thing that might become evident in that regard could be the battle between Ryan Switzer and Eli Rogers for slot receiver.
Given the lack of hitting in training camp practices, will we really get to see whether Devin Bush can handle the rigors of an NFL game at inside linebacker? Unlikely. That won’t be determined until the length of the preseason is done.
And then maybe not even through the first few weeks of September.
Is Steven Nelson any good? Or is he just better than Artie Burns? There’s no way to tell until games begin.
And don’t get me started on the running game. Benny Snell is going to come out in the first few days and look like a million dollars.
Let’s see what happens behind backup offensive linemen in preseason games.
Then again, he’ll be running against backup defensive linemen and linebackers. So he may look like a genetic mutation of Jerome Bettis and Barry Sanders.
Or, you know, Isaac Redman his first preseason.
Chris Boswell can make every kick right between the uprights. He can bomb them onto Route 30 from the upper graveyard for all I care.
That won’t matter a lick until he has to drill a 45-yarder Sept. 9 at Gillette Stadium.
Bud Dupree and Sean Davis are heading into contract years. They should be pushed to play extra hard once the bullets fly. I don’t see that manifesting in seven-on-sevens next Tuesday. I see that manifesting against the Ravens on Oct. 6.
You get the point.
For a team with so many questions, the 2019 Steelers will have very little drama on the depth chart as the TVs and video game units get moved into the dorm rooms.
Wow. Did I use the words “little drama” and “Steelers” in the same sentence?
I did. Because it’s true. Not only will the Steelers lack headline appeal at Saint Vincent as opposed to recent years with salacious contract watches and extraneous stories, but they also will lack headline appeal when it comes to actual on-field football news.
Barring significant injury or unforeseen contract static, you’re going to get three weeks of hypothetical happy talk, folks.
This guy looks good. That guy is making a push. Here’s what could happen in a perfect scenario.
Not gonna lie. I’ll probably be a part of that at times.
But let’s be honest right now. None of this matters until the Steelers put on the pads in Foxborough, Mass.
More so this year than any other. We get the spin. We understand the what-ifs. We get the theories and ideas.
Brown and Le’Veon Bell are gone, but that’s OK because the distractions went with them.
Now prove it. Get to the playoffs.
At training camp 2019, we are just killing time and filling space until the Steelers regular season begins and the Pittsburgh Pirates season ends.
Which, based on their performance since the All-Star break, can’t come soon enough.
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