Aaron Rodgers Is Helping Build the Steelers’ Future

We have 5 takeaways from Steelers camp.

Takeaway number 1, Aaron Rodgers has been huge for Mike McCarthy and establishing his program , building his offense.

The background he has, of course, allows him to be a torchbearer for McCarthy in the locker room.

And beyond just that, Rodgers has really impressed people here with the job that he's done, helping to develop the young quarterbacks, both Will Howard and Drew Aller.

Aller had a great debut on Friday night, of course, against the Packers in the team's preseason opener.

He's way ahead of where they thought he would be from a footwork standpoint, from a technique standpoint.

He's getting better day over day, and he's got great tools.

They believe he could develop into a starter someday.

As for right now, one of the bigger questions remaining for the Steelers is whether or not Will Howard is ready to be the backup.

If he is, are you willing to move on from having the insurance policy of a veteran backup in Mason Rudolph?

Do you feel like you have to keep Rudolph on the roster?

Does that mean Howard has to go, or can you keep four quarterbacks?

They got to sort that out over the next couple of weeks.

Take away number 2, the depth and balance at the skill positions is better than it's been in a while here.

DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman are a little nicked up at receiver.

They're year 1 and 2.

Their absences in practice have provided opportunities for some younger guys, and some of those guys have stepped forward.

One would be Roman Wilson going into his 3rd year.

He struggled a little bit his 1st 2 years.

But he's now showing an ability to play all three receiver spots, which is huge in Mike McCarthy's offense.

So he'd be the number 3 right now if the season were to start between Metcalf, behind Metcalf and Pittman.

And then the 4th guy is the 2nd round pick, Jeremy Bernard, who's looked like a tough, strong, physical intermediate weapon, who's going to be in the mix somewhere.

At tight end, you've got Pat Friarmuth and Darnell Washington coming back, and then at running back.

You've got a nice combination in Rico Dowdell and Jalen Warren to the point where the coaches say it doesn't even matter who starts at this point, they're both gonna be part of the mix.

Put it all together, maybe the biggest question is who the 3 running back is gonna be.

It's a good place for the Steelers to be at those spots.

Take away number 3, the offensive line has a chance to develop into a strength, but it's gonna take some work to get there.

Now, the left side of the line is rock solid, Troy Pittao at left tackle, Mason McCormick at left guard, and Zach Frazier at center, at right guard, Spencer Anderson looks like he can at least be a solid stop gap for right now.

He's being pushed by a rookie from Iowa, Jennings Dunker.

And then at right tackle, Dylan Cook is the number one right now, trying to hold off Broderick Jones, who's coming back from a really bad neck injury, and then Max Ahenaor, the first round pick, who's flashed plenty in camp.

But has been a little banged up, so they believe that he's going to be able to start at some point this year.

The question is, can he stay out there long enough to facilitate that?

We'll see.

Take away number 4, Patrick Graham is bringing his scheme in here.

It's not totally divergent from what the Steelers have done in the past, but it's complex.

It's got a lot of volume.

It's from that New England.

Defensive coaching tree and the good news is that he's got the veterans who have the know-how to help him run it at every level of the defense.

It's TJ Watt and Cam Hayward up front, the linebacker level, Peyton Wilson and Patrick IQ, Patrick Queen, high IQ football players, both great communicators, and then on the back end.

Jalen Ramsey and DeShaun Elliott are both capable of running the show, so they feel like they're gonna be able to do a lot from a volume standpoint on defense in Patrick Graham's first year, because of all the experience those guys bring to the table.

Finally, takeaway number 5, I named a lot of guys there that are older, and there are other older guys as part of this mix.

Alex Highsmith is now an older player.

Jamel Dean, who comes over from Tampa.

He's a little bit older.

So depth could wind up being really important here if they get banged up over the course of the year.

Older teams tend to get nicked up.

So the development of young guys is gonna be important.

It is important with guys like Derek Harmon, who looks like he could be ready to break through their former first round pick, capable of doing whatever he wants on the defensive line.

Can he put it all together?

He's showing signs he will.

There are some other guys further down the line like Gabriel Rubio, the defensive lineman they took out of Notre Dame, Robert Spears Jennings, the safety they took out of Oklahoma, and there are even some veteran guys out here who've shown some promise.

Asante Samuel is one that's gotten everybody's attention.

His instincts, his ball skills, all that stuff you saw in Los Angeles all those years ago, that's coming back.

So that second wave of defenders, how those guys come along, will be really, really important.