Tim Benz: Steelers front office, coaches send messages to offensive players

Who says we’ll never return to normalcy, Steelers fans? We’re there right now.

For weeks my Twitter timeline, email inbox and column comments have been littered with vitriol from both sides of the coronavirus debate. For every 50 people that want us to storm the state capital building with machine guns, there are 50 people who get offended if you suggest it’s wise to lift stay-at-home restrictions at any time before Christmas.

As of Saturday evening, though, all I saw were Steelers fans telling me that the organization had a perfect draft, Minkah Fitzpatrick counts as the first-round pick, and the team was going to go 16-0.

Or Steelers fans telling me the whole draft stinks and that both general manager Kevin Colbert and head coach Mike Tomlin should’ve been fired while they were still on their Zoom press conference at the end of the draft.

Ah, the good ol’ days are back, baby!

The results of the draft aren’t clear yet. They won’t be for months to come. In some cases, years to come.

What was clear, though, were some of the messages sent to members of the current roster by Tomlin and Colbert. Those messages were sometimes in words. But more consistently through action based on how they drafted.

Here’s my interpretation of the messages sent to the offensive players from the front office and coaching staff. We’ll look at the defense Tuesday.

JuJu Smith-Schuster: By drafting Chase Claypool in the second round, we just made it a lot easier on ourselves to let you go after 2020. Now show us you are worth keeping. And show us you are worth keeping as a high-priced No. 1 target we hoped you’d be last year.

Because this pick could also help you.

“You get excited about the opportunity that maybe (Claypool) has to be defended deep,” offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner said Friday. “Now guys like JuJu, Diontae [Johnson], James [Washington], they work in the intermediate. All of a sudden, it just seems to open things up a little bit cleaner. Everyone needs those levels to be able to attack.”

Claypool wasn’t drafted to replace you in 2020, Juju. But he could in 2021. How about you make that a moot point, huh?

Diontae Johnson: Don’t get full of yourself. You aren’t allowed to have a sophomore slump.

James Washington: You started to look like, at least, a legit third wide receiver option last year. Don’t slip back to fourth. Because we’ve got a guy who is bigger, stronger and faster to make those combat catches you were so renowned for making in college.

Stefen Wisniewski: When we brought you in as a free agent, we told you that you could compete for the starting job. Well, now you are competing with fourth-round pick Kevin Dotson.

When Tomlin was asked about the prospect of Dotson competing right away for early playing time, he didn’t say “yes.”

But he didn’t say “no” either.

“His ability to compete for playing time will be etched out as we get to know him,” Tomlin said. “We like his pedigree. We think he has the type of talent that will allow him to do so. He’ll write that story as he performs.”

All the offensive tackles: Alejandro Villanueva’s job likely isn’t up for grabs this year. It could be next year, though, if he isn’t retained in free agency.

No clear-cut heir apparent was drafted this season. So Zach Banner or Chuks Okorafor, if you guys want the job, it’s time to start pressing for it in practice and the preseason. And Matt Feiler, you need to fend off any advances on your job, too.

When asked if he was comfortable with the depth at that position after the Steelers failed to draft an offensive tackle, Tomlin offered a succinct answer.

“Yes.”

Colbert was more expansive.

“We’ve watched Chuks and Zach grow over the last few years,” Colbert said. “There is a comfort level that both of those guys are NFL tackles.”

Time to make us look good.

James Conner: Anthony McFarland Jr. wasn’t drafted in the fourth round to take your job. But he was drafted to make it easier to spread your job around and make this a running back-by-committee team.

If you let us — and him — do that.

So don’t let us. Be effective. And be healthy.

Benny Snell: Being a fourth-round running back in the NFL ain’t that special.

See. We just got another one.

Be special.

Jaylen Samuels and Kerrith Whyte: Listen to this description of McFarland from running backs coach Eddie Faulkner.

“He is really explosive,” Faulkner said Saturday. “He has shown the ability to catch the ball. He has shown the ability to run the ball outside, inside. He has that versatility you are looking for as an all-around guy. I think he is a good complement.

“He sees a crease; he has the ability to hit the crease. He gets from 0 to 60 really quick. Quickness, speed and has shown the ability to hit the long ball.”

Sure sounds to me like he could take Samuels’ pass-catching job out of the backfield and Whyte’s speedback/return gig.

The easiest way to make a crowded backfield less crowded is to give the snaps of two players to one man.

Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges: OK, Mason, all that stuff we said in the media about having faith in you and thinking that you will grow into a successful quarterback, it was true.

We could’ve drafted a challenger for your job in Jacob Eason or Jake Fromm. But we didn’t.

Now be better. And if Ben Roethlisberger gets hurt again, prove us right.

Oh, and as for you, Duck. See above. See you at training camp. Paxton Lynch and J.T. Barrett will see you there, too.

Ben Roethlisberger: We didn’t draft your replacement. We didn’t do what the Green Bay Packers did with Aaron Rodgers and Jordan Love. And we spent three of our first four picks on offensive players that could help you out.

We also didn’t trade anyone off the current depth chart.

Come back healthy. Come back in shape. The ship is yours. Be the version of “Big Ben” that you were before the injury, and let’s show the world that 8-8 in 2019 was all about your injury and nothing else.