With quarterback Ben Roethlisberger now 36 and nearing the end of his career, many have suggested the Steelers sell out and go into a complete win-now philosophy when it comes to this offseason.
But if the 2018 NFL Draft, which wrapped up Saturday, shows anything, it's the team isn't choosing that mentality.
Don't believe that? Ask Kevin Colbert.
"We go all-in every year. We want to win it every year," Colbert said Saturday. "I’ll never support mortgaging the future to sell out and win because one critical injury can change that, and what have you done to your organization? Since I’ve been part of this thing, we’ve had one losing season (2003). That’s one too many. Fortunately, we got a franchise Hall-of-Fame quarterback that year. There were probably three Hall-of-Fame quarterbacks in that class. If that wasn’t, who knows what would have happened? Without Ben, we’re probably not winning as many Super Bowls as we’ve been able to.
"Every year is a different challenge. This is the challenge, 2018, to win the Super Bowl. But we’re never going to lose sight of making sure we can compete every year."
The challenge that faced the Steelers this year was finding a replacement for injured linebacker Ryan Shazier. And when the top four inside linebackers were selected before the Steelers had an opportunity to pick one with the 28th selection, they began looking at other ways to fill that void.
From first-round pick Terrell Edmunds to fifth-round selections Marcus Allen and Jaylen Samuels, the Steelers went after players who offered what Mike Tomlin likes to say is positional flexibility.
And in today's NFL, having those kind of players is a necessity when it comes to building a roster. The two safeties, in particular, could come in handy in replacing Shazier.
"I think they can help our football team in a number of ways. It’s something that’s indicative of the safety position in the NFL," Mike Tomlin said Saturday. "Not only are they safeties, but in sub-package football, when you start putting DBs down in the box, several of these guys have that in their past and we’re excited about looking at that as a potential component of our play.
"Also, they are a significant component of special teams play. To be able to add some guys that not only play the safety position, but are physical tacklers, can help us as potential second-level defenders in sub-packages and in terms of covering kicks, I think it’s been a good week for us from that perspective."
Edmunds (6-1, 217) and Allen (6-2, 215), two players listed as safeties in this draft, are closer in size to the 6-1, 229-pound Shazier than they are to a traditional 200-pound safety.
Several teams around the league use bigger safeties as linebackers in their nickel and dime defenses — something the Steelers used to do with Troy Polamalu — and seem intent on doing so again with the additions of Edmunds, Allen and free agent signing Morgan Burnett.
"It’s just whether you’re talking about base or sub. There’s a significant difference when you’re talking about a base linebacker or a base safety," Tomlin said. "When you start talking about situational football, those lines bleed together in terms of the positions those guys play. It’s not something that is revealed through our play, but everyone’s play. That’s an indication of where football is these days."
The Steelers expect those two and second-round selection James Washington to contribute right away. Washington will get an opportunity to fill the void left when Martavis Bryant was traded Thursday night to the Oakland Raiders.
As for the rest of the players selected, how quickly or how much they contribute in 2018 remains to be seen.
"It’s worth noting these guys can not only help us in the future, but these guys are capable of helping us this year, if they earn it," Tomlin said. "We don’t discount any contributions or assume any division of roles. These guys will be given opportunities to carve out roles this year. If they do and it’s significant, great. If they don’t, they’re in an environment that is conducive to them growing. We sat in here last year and people figured that JuJu (Smith-Schuster) was a 'luxury pick,' not necessarily a driving need. That guy made a lot of football plays in 2017."
The Steelers selected Smith-Schuster in the second round of the 2017 draft despite having Antonio Brown, Bryant and Eli Rogers, among others, returning at the receiver position. He wound up catching 58 passes for 917 yards and seven touchdowns.
Whether any of this year's group can make that kind of impact remains to be seen. But the Steelers have high hopes about it, not just for this season.
I asked Colbert about how he would respond to people who feel the team didn't adequately address a need at inside linebacker.
The Steelers, however, wanted to stick to their draft board.
"Some people may question the immediacy of these kids being able to help us, but as I said, our job is to win a championship in 2018," Colbert admitted. "But the other part of our job is to make sure this organization can compete year in and year out, and hopefully these young men can help us do that."
Here is a quick synopsis of each of the picks:
Round 1 (28): Terrell Edmunds, S, Virginia Tech: Came out as a redshirt junior after playing in 37 games, making 31 starts. ... Finished his career with 182 total tackles and six career interceptions. ... Played through a serious shoulder injury in 2017 that eventually required surgery. ... Comes from a football family. Father Ferrell was an All-Pro NFL tight end, while older brother, Trey, is a running back for the New Orleans Saints. Younger brother, Tremaine, was the 16th pick in this year's draft by Buffalo.
What they said: "I’m a leader on the field, like I said. I made all the calls in the back half of the defense, so I had to make the call to our rover, our strong safety, and then our two corners. I had to make the checks and everything from all the different formations the offenses gave us." — Edmunds
Round 2 (60): James Washington, WR, Oklahoma State: Set Oklahoma State's record with 4,472 receiving yards, the second-most in Big 12 history. ... Also scored 39 touchdowns, the most among FBS players active in 2017. ... Is a big-play specialist, averaging just over 20 yards per reception in his career, despite running a 4.54-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine. At 5-11, 213 pounds, is built more like a running back than a receiver. Averaged 119.2 receiving yards per game last season with nine 100-yard games.
What they said: "He had 39 career touchdowns in college. He knows how to score. You can't teach that. That will translate to the NFL. You can't take a guy who scored six touchdowns in college and make him a guy who scores touchdowns." -- Randy Fichtner, Steelers offensive coordinator
Round 3 (76): Mason Rudolph, QB, Oklahoma State: Finished his career with 54 school records. ... Was a teammate of Washington. ... Threw for 13,618 career passing yards and averaged 324.2 yards per game in his career. ... Threw for 4,904 yards last season and was responsible for 47 touchdowns. ... Had a career record of 32-9 in his starts.
What they said: "He was with the group of top quarterbacks. That was a really good position. That’s very unique to the draft. It usually doesn’t come through like that. To be able to get one of those guys in our situation, nothing against Landry (Jones) or Josh Dobbs, but this kid was available at an easy selection point. And that’s a critical position. Where he fits, how quick he fits, coach can answer that. We just know it’s nice to have options at a critical position." -- Colbert
Round 3 (92): Chukwuma Okorafor, OT, Western Michigan: At 6-6, 320 pounds, is light on his feet as would be expected for a former soccer player. ... Started each of his 39 games over the last three seasons. ... Was one of six finalists for the 2017 Outland Trophy. ... Steelers consider him a prospect who can play left tackle. ... Was a first-team All-America selection by FWAA and Phil Steele, and second-team for Sports Illustrated.
What they said: "When you have a big man like him, it’s hard to just run around him. He’s got nice long arms, good size and has a lot of growth ahead as far as growth and strength and technique. He’s capable of doing everything we want him to do and we ask our tackles to do. We are excited at the fact that he can come in and isn’t limited in any way. He can help us right away competing at those spots." — Mike Munchak, offensive line coach
Round 5 (146): Marcus Allen, S, Penn State: A big, strong safety at 6-2, 215 pounds. ... Finished his career as Penn State's fifth all-time leading tackler with 321 stops. ... Was a four-year starter at Penn State and in 2016 became the first safety to lead the Nittany Lions in tackles since 2002. ... Father, Sean, is a Pittsburgh native and played collegiately at Maryland. ... Had just one career interception but is considered a sure tackler.
What they said: "We had taken Terrell in the first round, but we like Marcus a lot. Safety was a nice group. When Marcus was available in the fifth round, we felt that we really like his physicality. Marcus is a guy who knocks people backwards when he hits them and he does it very often. To add a kid like him in the fifth round when we had already added another player in the first round was an easy pick because he was the highest-rated player at that point." — Colbert
Round 5 (165): Jaylen Samuels, RB, North Carolina State: At 5-11, 225 pounds, Samuels is a big back who did a little bit of everything at N.C. State, lining up at running back, fullback, tight end and H-back. ... Finished his career with a school-record 202 receptions and second in school history with 47 touchdowns. ... Was the only active player in the NCAA last season with at least 15 career rushing and receiving touchdowns. ... Worked out with the tight ends at the NFL Scouting Combine. ... Averaged 6.1 yards per rushing attempt in college.
What they said: "I'll do whatever Coach Mike Tomlin asks me to do. If that's playing running back, let's play running back. If that's split out wide to catch balls, I'll do that. Whatever they want me to do when I get there, I'm willing to do." — Samuels
Round 7 (246): Joshua Frazier, NT, Alabama: At 6-3, 321 pounds, Frazier is a big man who played in a rotation at Alabama for new Steelers defensive line coach Karl Dunbar. ... Was a five-star recruit coming out of Har-Ber High School in Arkansas, but was limited in his playing time at Alabama because of the ridiculous depth of the Crimson Tide. ... Played in 40 career games, making 40 tackles, 4.5 for losses, two sacks, one forced fumble and three passes defensed.
What they said: "He's a big, strong kid. He can demand two blockers. He had a sack for us in the first (NCAA) playoff game against Clemson. He had a sack last year against Washington. So he's a big, athletic kid who you can't find a lot of, and when you do, you've got to take advantage of it." — Dunbar
