This year's Steelers roster is reminiscent of the "Crawfords" era that marked the first decade of Mike Tomlin's endless coaching regime as there are just 12 Whites on the 53. Additionally, KR/WR Gunner Olszewski was a healthy scratch yesterday for the first regular season game, a strong indication that he may not be much longer for the team.
The 2023 preseason games saw the Steelers go undefeated and the offense during the short time Kenny Pickett was in looked unstoppable as Pickett's QB rating was a perfect 158.3 However, the 49ers ran roughshod over the Steelers in every way possible in the opener. While one game is just that, one game, it's an indication that the many predictions by Steelers DWFs and the organization's corporate media cucks that the team was all but a cinch for the playoffs and might even sneak into the Super Bowl, now look rather foolish.
Despite the offensive faceplant in Week One, Pickett's job should be secure for a while and it would be surprising if he doesn't show significant improvement over his rookie year as the season goes along. He's the first White QB in Pittsburgh since before Terry Bradshaw who is actually liked and supported by the fans (see the 2022 write-up on the Steelers for a brief recap of the hate White QBs have had to deal with) and should have a fairly long leash in spite of the number of observers around the country who didn't like seeing him drafted in the first round last year and are rooting for him to fail.
More concerning is what kind of leash Cole Holcomb will have, who shouldn't have a leash at all given how effectively he played for Washington before being signed during the offseason, but the DWFs and local media hate White linebackers almost as much as they do White quarterbacks in spite of the all-world success of T. J. Watt. Holcomb's signing generated only lukewarm feedback at best, with many not even having heard of him. Meantime Tanner Muse and Nick Kwiatkoski were brought in and quickly discarded (as I predicted in the Steelers general thread), with the media instead lauding well-traveled mediocrities Kwon Alexander and Elandon Roberts. Holcomb put up a disappointing line of 5 tackles with just 2 of them solos in the blowout against SF, so don't be surprised if this proven tackling machine is demoted at some point during the season if he doesn't quickly start improving on that performance.
Watt had three more sacks in the season opener and is now already tied for the organization's all-time lead in career sacks. He's all but unstoppable, only some injuries have prevented him from piling up even more big plays.
TE Pat Freiermuth is a very good one and is Pickett's favorite target in the redzone. The Steelers have had a tradition of excellent White TEs going back to the days of Mark Bruener even as the rest of the team became overwhelming Black ever since the hiring of Bill Cowher following Chuck Noll's retirement after the 1991 season.
The other White starter is center Mason Cole.
White backups are sparse to put it mildly. Nate Herbig is a second string RG, while his brother Nick is a rookie DE/OLB who may eventually be moved inside. The Herbig brothers have some Poly ethnicity but pass the eye test enough, Nick more than Nate, that most fans won't notice.
Mitch Trubisky backs up Pickett, while Mason Rudolph signed for peanuts to be the third stringer. Rudolph went from being a possible first round pick after a stellar career at Oklahoma State to a third round pick by Pittsburgh, a phenomenon happening more and more often to standout White college QBs, to backing up Ben Roethlisberger in his final seasons to never getting a serious chance to compete for the starting job post-Big Ben.
Veteran Chris Boswell is the placekicker while Christian Kuntz is the long snapper. Percy Harvin is the awful black punter the team kept around again for some reason.
QB: Kenny Pickett, Mitch Trubisky, Mason Rudolph
C: Mason Cole
RG: Nate Herbig
TE: Pat Freiermuth
WR: Gunner Olszewski
DE/OLB: T. J. Watt, Nick Herbig
ILB: Cole Holcomb
PK: Chris Boswell
LS: Christian Kuntz
Practice squad: The notable name here is "fullback" Zander Horvath, OT Kellen Diesch, OG Joey Fisher
Number of White Starters: 5
Number of Whites on 53 Man Roster: 12
Grade: F
The 2023 preseason games saw the Steelers go undefeated and the offense during the short time Kenny Pickett was in looked unstoppable as Pickett's QB rating was a perfect 158.3 However, the 49ers ran roughshod over the Steelers in every way possible in the opener. While one game is just that, one game, it's an indication that the many predictions by Steelers DWFs and the organization's corporate media cucks that the team was all but a cinch for the playoffs and might even sneak into the Super Bowl, now look rather foolish.
Despite the offensive faceplant in Week One, Pickett's job should be secure for a while and it would be surprising if he doesn't show significant improvement over his rookie year as the season goes along. He's the first White QB in Pittsburgh since before Terry Bradshaw who is actually liked and supported by the fans (see the 2022 write-up on the Steelers for a brief recap of the hate White QBs have had to deal with) and should have a fairly long leash in spite of the number of observers around the country who didn't like seeing him drafted in the first round last year and are rooting for him to fail.
More concerning is what kind of leash Cole Holcomb will have, who shouldn't have a leash at all given how effectively he played for Washington before being signed during the offseason, but the DWFs and local media hate White linebackers almost as much as they do White quarterbacks in spite of the all-world success of T. J. Watt. Holcomb's signing generated only lukewarm feedback at best, with many not even having heard of him. Meantime Tanner Muse and Nick Kwiatkoski were brought in and quickly discarded (as I predicted in the Steelers general thread), with the media instead lauding well-traveled mediocrities Kwon Alexander and Elandon Roberts. Holcomb put up a disappointing line of 5 tackles with just 2 of them solos in the blowout against SF, so don't be surprised if this proven tackling machine is demoted at some point during the season if he doesn't quickly start improving on that performance.
Watt had three more sacks in the season opener and is now already tied for the organization's all-time lead in career sacks. He's all but unstoppable, only some injuries have prevented him from piling up even more big plays.
TE Pat Freiermuth is a very good one and is Pickett's favorite target in the redzone. The Steelers have had a tradition of excellent White TEs going back to the days of Mark Bruener even as the rest of the team became overwhelming Black ever since the hiring of Bill Cowher following Chuck Noll's retirement after the 1991 season.
The other White starter is center Mason Cole.
White backups are sparse to put it mildly. Nate Herbig is a second string RG, while his brother Nick is a rookie DE/OLB who may eventually be moved inside. The Herbig brothers have some Poly ethnicity but pass the eye test enough, Nick more than Nate, that most fans won't notice.
Mitch Trubisky backs up Pickett, while Mason Rudolph signed for peanuts to be the third stringer. Rudolph went from being a possible first round pick after a stellar career at Oklahoma State to a third round pick by Pittsburgh, a phenomenon happening more and more often to standout White college QBs, to backing up Ben Roethlisberger in his final seasons to never getting a serious chance to compete for the starting job post-Big Ben.
Veteran Chris Boswell is the placekicker while Christian Kuntz is the long snapper. Percy Harvin is the awful black punter the team kept around again for some reason.
QB: Kenny Pickett, Mitch Trubisky, Mason Rudolph
C: Mason Cole
RG: Nate Herbig
TE: Pat Freiermuth
WR: Gunner Olszewski
DE/OLB: T. J. Watt, Nick Herbig
ILB: Cole Holcomb
PK: Chris Boswell
LS: Christian Kuntz
Practice squad: The notable name here is "fullback" Zander Horvath, OT Kellen Diesch, OG Joey Fisher
Number of White Starters: 5
Number of Whites on 53 Man Roster: 12
Grade: F
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