It’s only been one week of OTAs for the Steelers, so it’s probably too soon to dive into position competitions. Those will come into clearer focus in training camp.
But simply looking at the roster, it’s apparent that several returning starters from the 2022 depth chart might not be starters anymore. The Steelers only lost four from last year’s team, all on defense — inside linebackers Myles Jack and Devin Bush, plus cornerback Cam Sutton and strong safety Terrell Edmunds. During a busy offseason of free-agent signings and high-profile draft picks, several more could be replaced come Week 1 against San Francisco.
While left tackle Dan Moore Jr. can’t feel safe with first-round pick Broderick Jones behind him, he at least will have experience on his side when compared to a rookie. The same can’t be said for Moore’s right-hand man, Kevin Dotson, who knows as well as anyone that he’ll be replaced by veteran Isaac Seumalo.
“Man, I’m pretty much just doing what I can, get where I can go, just keep doing what I can do until something happens,” Dotson said on the first day of OTAs. “I don’t really know what the future holds.”
It’s a tough deal for Dotson, who was often injured his first two seasons. He put those durability concerns behind him last year, playing every snap, but he was one of the most penalized linemen in the NFL with 12 flags.
Seumalo signed a three-year, $24 million deal after seven seasons in Philadelphia, also starting every game last season for the NFC champion Eagles. Asked if he views his final year under contract as a prove-it opportunity, Dotson sounded resigned to his fate as a backup, at best.
“Nah, they done paid him already, man,” he said, adding later that it’s “almost set in stone” that Seumalo will start. “It’s part of the league, man. Everything’s cutthroat. You can’t listen to everything people say. You think something, then something else happens.”
Cornerback Levi Wallace was more diplomatic in assessing his role. Eighteen picks after the Steelers traded up for Jones, they snagged Joey Porter Jr. with the first choice of the second round, turning down trade offers to do so.
That tells you how they feel about the Steelers legacy raised in their backyard, but with venerable cornerback Patrick Peterson also in the mix — and establishing himself on the left side, where Wallace played last year opposite Sutton — there figures to be a battle by the time August rolls around.
“Man, look, it takes me back to last year against Tampa Bay,” Wallace said. “I was out, Cam was out, [Ahkello Witherspoon] was out. I mean, everybody was out. We were all out for a game. The more the merrier. We lost a lot of guys, too, this year with Art [Maulet], ‘Spoon, Cam, so we had to replace guys. We’re only as good as who’s behind us and who else is in the room.
“I’m happy that Joey’s here. He’s a super big corner, completely different than me. Him and [seventh-round pick Cory] Trice, I’m like, ‘Jeez, oh man, I thought I was a long corner.’ But I’m excited to teach those guys. They're just sponges and soaking it up and asking the right questions. I’m excited they're on board.”
Indeed, Wallace’s situation is more fluid. Unlike Moore and Dotson, who occupy positions where the starters only come out if they’re injured, defensive players can always be used in certain sub-packages or have the chance to rotate into the lineup for a series here or a drive there. That may be the best-case scenario now for Montravius Adams, who started nine games at nose tackle in his first full season as a Steeler.
Not only did the Steelers sign Breiden Fehoko and Armon Watts, who bring a combined seven years of NFL experience, but they used their second second-round pick on Wisconsin’s Keeanu Benton. And DeMarvin Leal is still in the picture as a defensive end along with Isaiahh Loudermilk, in case the Steelers want to get more creative with the front seven to put their best 11 on the field.
“Honestly, I ain’t gonna lie, man, when I’m here with the Steelers, I don’t really see or feel nothing as a competition,” Adams said Thursday. “Like, at the end of the day, I feel like everything here is about the team body of work. Regardless of if you know guys are gonna get cut, that’s stuff that has to happen — it’s a business — but for the most part, guys are just here to get better and help the next man. So I feel like, being here, you don’t feel that the way you do with other teams.”
Even one of the newcomers who will try to take snaps from Adams can agree, to an extent. Fehoko is only a couple months into his Steelers tenure, but since he signed in late March, the Steelers made a significant draft investment in Benton.
He shares the sentiment that a deep defensive line unit will make all of them better, and with his locker alongside Benton’s, Fehoko doesn’t sound like someone who will close himself off to a rookie looking to learn.
“As a professional, you’ve always got to focus on the task at hand. But as a human being, you always have that thought in the back of your head like, ‘Oh, am I going to be on the team? How many guys are they going to carry?’ and stuff like that,” Fehoko admitted. “It’s always a numbers game. Competition always brings out the best in teams. But, as for me, my job is to keep pouring into this young guy next to me, making sure he’s up to speed and also making sure I can provide good nose tackle play and defensive line play whenever, wherever my number may be called.”
Brian Batko: bbatko@post-gazette.com and Twitter @BrianBatko.
First Published: May 28, 2023, 7:06 p.m.
