The opinions found in Asked and Answered do not reflect the views of the Steelers organization.
Let's get to it:
BRUCE LANG FROM LAKE ARROWHEAD, CA: Do you think the Steelers did enough in the draft/free agency to improve stopping the run? I don't remember seeing much activity at the ILB position.
ANSWER: My opinion is you're looking in the wrong place. Jack Ham and Jack Lambert both were great players as linebackers, first-ballot Hall of Fame inductees, both players who transformed their respective positions in different ways. But what allowed them to be all those things was the defensive line they played behind. Ham in particular has told stories of how he would play a whole half of football without being touched by an opposing lineman because while he was on the offense's right side the fact he played behind L.C. Greenwood and Joe Greene kept him protected. Not that these Steelers can construct a defensive line to compare to the Steel Curtain, but building up the defense by strengthening the line of scrimmage is a good way to approach things. To that end, I'm anticipating some significant improvement from the two interior defensive linemen the Steelers drafted in 2025 – Derrick Harmon and Yahya Black – and the team signed veteran free agent Sebastian Joseph-Day, who comes here with a reputation for solid play vs. the run as evidenced by his 32 solo tackles in 2025. Add to this group the holdover veterans like Cam Heyward and Keeanu Benton, and I am optimistic that the Steelers will be able to hold their own vs. the running game in 2026.
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CARLOS OLIVARES FROM SILVER SPRING, MD: New head coaches usually like to develop quarterbacks that they drafted. Does that give Drew Allar a slight advantage over Will Howard regarding future opportunities with reps?
ANSWER: Coach Mike McCarthy has thrown many public compliments toward Will Howard, and has talked often about what he sees as his potential to become an NFL quarterback. I believe once training camp gets underway, repetitions for the two young quarterbacks will be distributed by performance, not by which one was drafted after McCarthy was hired.
NICHOLAS PELCHAR FROM PURCELLVILLE, VA: Some of the sports pundits are claiming that picking Kaden Wetjen in the fourth round was a wasted pick, and that the Steelers could have gotten him in the seventh round. After watching our kickoff returner hand our opponent a touchdown for not understanding the rules last year, I applaud the pick. Do you?
ANSWER: I really have no use for instant evaluations of a draft class as a whole, but I particularly hate criticisms about which round a player was selected. There is no way to make the case with any sense of certainty that a player picked in the fourth round still would have been available to be picked in the seventh round. If Kaden Wetjen turns out to be a good NFL player, an asset to the Steelers return game that last returned a punt for a touchdown on Oct. 28, 2024, and last returned a kickoff for a touchdown on Dec. 31, 2017, it doesn't matter in which round he was selected. And if a player doesn't deliver, it doesn't lessen the disappointment no matter in which round he was selected.
WILLIAM PALAICH FROM CLERMONT, FL: I understand that having Aaron Rodgers back this season does provide benefits. In the event he does not return, do you see similarities in the current 3 QBs on the roster and the competition they'll be part of, like the Hanratty/Bradshaw/Gilliam situation in 1972?
ANSWER: Terry Bradshaw was the first overall pick of a draft. Drew Allar was a third-round pick, and Will Howard was a sixth-round pick. I think you're reaching to compare this situation to one that resulted in a franchise-changing outcome 50-some years ago.
STEPH GRESH FROM MARYVILLE, IL: If Aaron Rodgers decides not to play for the Steelers this season, do you think that they should try to sign Ben Roethlisberger, Cliff Stoudt or Bubby Brister?
ANSWER: You're forgetting Kordell Stewart.
JEROME PARKS FROM PITTSBURGH, PA: Why is it that when a team punts the ball and it goes out of bounds on the fly it's marked at the point where the ball is estimated to cross the sideline. But on kickoffs when it hits inbounds and rolls out it's a penalty. Nothing irks me more than watching an official run up the sideline and mark the exact spot the ball crossed the line.
ANSWER: Maybe that's because you don't understand the process. On a punt, the referee is positioned behind the punter, and he's the one who tracks the flight of a punt that sails out of bounds on a fly because he has a perfect viewing angle. The official who is running up the sideline is watching the referee, and when the referee gives him a signal to designate where he saw the punt cross the sideline the other official stops and spots the ball there. It's actually quite efficient.
ROGER HOWARD FROM SEVEN VALLEYS, PA: In the April 30 edition you said you expect Robert Spears-Jennings to be a contributor on special teams, which can buy time for him to improve the skills he'll need to contribute as a position player. For young players like him, how much practice time is spent with special teams, and how much time is spent practicing at their position?
ANSWER: Typically during an NFL practice, whether it's during OTAs, or training camp, or the regular season, there are special teams periods within the total time spent on the field. During those regular periods, all players participate in individual drills and team drills with the others within their position group. During special teams periods, the players on special teams work on covering kicks, returning kicks, etc. Someone who's a young defensive back would work with the other defensive backs during regular periods and would then get a lot of time on the field during the special teams periods. It's not an either/or situation, if I'm understanding your question.
RAY RAFFERTY FROM DUBLIN, OH: As some have called for Will Howard to start, I have heard some sports writers say that a sixth-round pick at QB generally does not have an NFL arm and the best upside for him might be to develop into a backup. Forgetting about Howard and talking generally, if that is the case why would any team ever waste a pick on a QB after Round 3? I don't think you draft for a hopeful backup. Aside from the fact that Tom Brady was a sixth-rounder, which is a one-off, why would any team use a late pick for a QB?
ANSWER: Teams absolutely draft players with the hope/expectation that they will develop into backups who can provide much-needed depth. And a backup quarterback might be the most important role for a non-starter on any NFL team. During the early part of Ben Roethlisberger's career, the Steelers went with veteran backups in Byron Leftwich and Charlie Batch, but those guys were getting injured too often. And so the plan became to draft quarterbacks and teach and develop these young players into backups, which led the team to pick Landry Jones, and then Joshua Dobbs, and then Mason Rudolph. If there was a way to get Bill Belichick and Kyle Shanahan to tell the unvarnished truth about drafting Tom Brady and Brock Purdy, respectively, I'm willing to bet that Brady was picked with the idea of him becoming a backup to Drew Bledsoe, who was a three-time Pro Bowl selection at that time, and that Purdy was drafted to compete for a No. 3 job behind starter Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance, who had been the third overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft.
WILL McINTOSH FROM BELLEVIEW, FL: I have a question about rookies drafted and undrafted, after they sign with the team. What happens when they get cut or waived? Does their contract get voided immediately or are they paid for the contract they signed?
ANSWER: Rookies, who are drafted, all receive a signing bonus on their first contracts, which is money paid immediately, and usually there also is some kind of guaranteed money attached to the contracts signed by undrafted rookies as well. But when it comes to salary as outlined in a player's contract, that money is not paid unless the individual makes the 53-man roster or gets placed on the injured reserve list.
STEVE SHANTA FROM AYR, SCOTLAND, UK: My question may at first seem ridiculous, but I hope on examination it is considered to be intriguing. How many draft picks by the Steelers in the recent 5 or 10 years have been from college teams that sport black-and-gold uniforms? Do you think that number may be positively disproportionate and could there be a subliminal bias by team scouts and selectors to the cherished Steelers colors that we all love as lifelong Steelers fans?
ANSWER: There have been different periods where the Steelers drafted multiple players from the same college program. From 1992-95, the Steelers drafted 5 players from Colorado; from 2010-15, they drafted 6 players from Ohio State; and 2024-26, they drafted 5 players from Iowa. Sometimes that had to do with those college programs using schemes that were similar or complementary to what the Steelers were using at the time, and sometimes it was just a situation where those programs were producing talented players at positions of need for the Steelers. But I can guarantee you that the color of the college uniforms had nothing to do with the Steelers' interest.
