The opinions found in Asked and Answered do not reflect the views of the Steelers organization.
Let's get to it:
BRIAN PILE FROM TIGARD, OR: What sessions or on-field activities at Saint Vincent College do you think Coach Mike McCarthy will conduct differently vs. what Coach Mike Tomlin did? I think the backs-on-backers and 7-shots could be eliminated, just my opinion.
ANSWER: I always go to a training camp at Saint Vincent College believing it's going to be interesting in its own unique way, with the 2025 version holding a special interest in that I really wanted to see how Aaron Rodgers looked in the on-field drills and how he was going to interact with his new teammates. The 2026 version of Steelers training camp is going to headed by a new coach for only the fourth time in the team's long association with Saint Vincent College. Just as a historical aside, those 4 coaching changes would be from Bill Austin to Chuck Noll in 1969; from Noll to Bill Cowher in 1992; from Cowher to Mike Tomlin in 2007; and now from Tomlin to Mike McCarthy in 2026.
Anyway, what often happens in the NFL is that when a new coach takes over a team, he uses his first training camp there to set a tone for what he expects in terms of style of play. Over the course of the summer in Latrobe, I believe we'll be able to figure out what a Mike McCarthy team is going to look like based on what he emphasizes on the practice field, the drills that he runs, the tone of the sessions, etc. And just about all of that will happen in front of the fans who make the trip to "the scenic Laurel Highlands." Personally, I expect to see backs-on-backers – or something similar – because football is a physical sport when it's being played at a high level. What I will be curious to see is whether there is a live tackling period, which is something Tomlin instituted sometime in the mid-2010s, and which just did not happen in any other NFL camps.
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STEVE LETTIE FROM MORRISTOWN, NJ: I'm curious. In your April 16 Asked and Answered, you wrote that the Steelers don't have any potential long-term answers at quarterback. A few questions later, you recapped Will Howard's Ohio State championship run. Given his very small but positive sample size, his good attitude, work ethic, spending a year around Aaron Rodgers, do you not see him as a potential long-term possibility?
ANSWER: Let me clarify what I wrote as part of a longer answer to a question about Drew Allar: "(T)he team currently doesn't have a guy who could be considered the long-term heir apparent to Ben Roethlisberger." Will Howard didn't get much of an opportunity to show what he could do last summer at Saint Vincent College, and during the brief time he had he didn't look as good to me as Mason Rudolph Or Skylar Thompson in any of the on-field practices in pads.
In the NFL, every draft pick is a "potential" something. Teams don't draft players in any round and label them or assign them. Sure, Howard has the "potential" just as Brock Purdy did when San Francisco made him the final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft. But Purdy wasn't handed anything by Coach Kyle Shanahan; he earned the opportunity with his performance/improvement throughout the training camp and preseason process. Howard didn't even make it to the start of the preseason before a broken finger made him a football non-entity until he was activated off injured reserve on Nov. 12. What he did in college doesn't matter at all now. In every answer about something involving Will Howard, I write that he will be given the opportunity to compete once training camp opens, and then it's going to be up to him.
VADEN WARD FROM DUNBAR, WV: Do you think the Steelers will be better than last year?
ANSWER: In 2025, the Steelers won the AFC North Division at 10-7, they were 2-0 vs. the Ravens, and they lost a home game in the Wild Card Round to the Houston Texans. This is way too early in the NFL calendar to project how a team is going to fare over the course of a regular season, and there are way too many unknown factors involved to have any idea. I think if the 2026 Steelers have a good draft, and if they come together at training camp, and if they enter the regular season relatively healthy and have decent luck with injuries during the regular season, they will be competitive in the AFC North. And then, who knows, maybe be a team that makes the playoffs and wins in the playoffs. In my estimation, if that all happens … then I would describe this team as better than last year's.
SHAWN BITTNER FROM JACKSONVILLE, FL: The 2 weeks leading up to the draft are among the most entertaining periods of the offseason. Reading and listening to all the "pundits, experts and insiders" (insert Moe, Larry, and Curly reference) predicting what teams will do. I personally think that aside from the QB question (which I think isn't really a question) the Steelers do not have a real glaring "need." Depth is needed almost everywhere. What would you say are the Steelers biggest "needs?"
ANSWER: In my opinion, the Steelers "need" to become better offensively, and the only real way to measure "better" will be by the number of points they score and how efficient they are in doing that (red zone efficiency). They also "need" more splash on defense – takeaways, game-altering sacks.
FABIAN AEMISEGGER FROM ZURICH, SWITZERLAND: How does an NFL draft-day trade work? Teams only have about eight minutes to make their pick, and so is that really enough time to negotiate and finalize a trade without either side backing out? Or are most trades arranged in advance and only executed if a certain player is still available?
ANSWER: There are all kinds of trades that can be made during the 3 days of the NFL Draft. Teams can trade to move up or down in a round that involve nothing except picks. Teams can trade picks in one draft for picks in another draft. Phone calls are made and/or answered all the time during an NFL offseason, and so if a team is seriously open for business during a draft then certain bases already have been touched if only in a superficial way. Then it happens fast. If you're trading up in a round, you wait for the team that's one spot ahead of where you want to be to announce its pick. At that point you know who you want to pick, so you call the team that's your potential trading partner. It doesn't take 8 minutes to complete the transaction at that point. It's not as though there's a player involved who has to pass a physical.
JOHN CURLEY FROM CHAPTICO, MD: With the Steelers having years of a defense-first mentality and Coach Mike McCarthy having an offense-first mentality, are you expecting some growing pains within the organization for a change in the mindset? With McCarthy being more offense oriented, do you think we could expect more of the trick plays similar to those with Ben Roethlisberger, Hines Ward, and Antwaan Randall El?
ANSWER: I think coaches may have a certain background as they grow up in coaching, but once they get an NFL job they realize success is achieved by utilizing the specific skills of the specific players on their team. Mike Tomlin would not have been described as defense-first when he had Ben Roethlisberger, Le'Veon Bell, Heath Miller, Antonio Brown, Markus Wheaton, and Martavis Bryant. Bill Cowher was the coach when Roethlisberger-Randle El-Ward were running gadget plays, and 10 years before that his teams were referred to as Blitzburgh. For me personally, I'm not going into this season with many expectations about style. Just see how it unfolds.
WALTER DEHORITY FROM NASHVILLE, TN: I enjoy reading your occasional stories about Bill Nunn, the legendary Steelers scout who helped build some of the greatest rosters in franchise history through his detailed scouting of players overlooked by other teams (e.g., those from HBCUs). I imagine given the limited availability of film on many of those prospects, Nunn spent a lot of time scouting players in person, either at games or at their respective colleges. How has that aspect of scouting in the NFL changed, now that seemingly every snap of every college game played is available on video? How much time do Steelers scouts spend scouting prospects in-person vs. on tape, and if they do scout in person, what would they be looking for that may not be apparent on film?
ANSWER: There is still in-person scouting done by NFL teams, but the technological advances made since the 1970s allow teams to access video of games, NFL Combine workouts, Pro Days, college all-star practices and games, with the ability to watch it from their home or office or anywhere they can get a WIFI signal. What cannot be measured, either on video or in person, is what Kevin Colbert always referred to as "hearts and smarts." Smarts has to do with a level of intelligence that will allow the individual to learn and execute an NFL system. Hearts has to do with what the individual has inside of himself in terms of competitiveness, will, resilience, etc.
DAVE STEWART FROM VALRICO, FL: I really enjoyed your History of the Draft, but wondering if you ever tried to track the most successful "Draft Analyst?" I haven't seen too many get it right, although I trust Steelers.com's guys "On the Clock."
ANSWER: No disrespect intended, but I don't pay too much attention to those who analyze or prognosticate the NFL Draft. There are some I respect when it comes to player evaluation based on workouts and performance in college, but that's really an educated guess as well. When it comes to which teams are going to do what, there is so much misinformation out there, bad information, lying even, to have any real idea. It's entertainment, and I encourage fans to view it as such.
ROAK BURKE FROM WILMINGTON, DE: The Steelers have not defeated the Eagles in Philadelphia since 1965. Why do you think that is? That doesn't even sound like it could be right.
ANSWER: There can be weird quirks in different series between teams. The Steelers are 1-15 all-time in Chicago, and the first time the Steelers played the Bears there was in 1936. The Jets have won just twice in Pittsburgh in a series that began in 1970. When Three Rivers Stadium opened for the 1970 season, the Browns played once there every year and didn't win in Pittsburgh until 1986. Starting with 1966, which is 40 years ago, the Steelers have played in Philadelphia 10 times. Certainly not a highlight in Steelers history, but I was there in 2004 when the Eagles brought an undefeated team to Pittsburgh on Nov. 7 and got smoked, 27-3, and it wasn't that close.
PERCEVAL SONDAG FLEMINGTON, NJ: I understand the Steelers always like to have 4 QBs in training camp. When three roster spots are all but assigned like this year (assuming Rogers signs) does that 4th QB usually have a realistic chance at making the final 53, or would a 7th-round pick go in with the full understanding that he's fighting for a spot on the practice squad?
ANSWER: Players who have reached the level of being drafted by an NFL team have been competitive and successful at every level of football they've played. Someone doesn't have that inside them and then lower his expectations for himself just because he was a Day 3 draft pick and finds himself at the bottom of a depth chart that is beyond meaningless at this point. Fans often have a subconscious schedule where they have a need for things to be determined, pecking orders established. Tunch Ilkin and Craig Wolfley always talked about navigating training camp – and remember they were trying to make a roster coming off its 4th Super Bowl in 6 seasons. They always talked about taking it one day at a time and not playing the numbers game. Wolfley was a No. 5 pick; Ilkin a No. 6. And the other thing both of them said all the time about "long-shot" rookies was that they should work hard every day at their craft because if the team that drafted you doesn't want you, maybe another team does. It's the job. Not the color of the helmet.
