PHOENIX -- When the Steelers opened the 2018 season without Le'Veon Bell, James Conner stepped into the role of being the team's No. 1 running back seamlessly.
Now, with Antonio Brown having been traded to the Raiders, Tomlin has that same expectation for JuJu Smith-Schuster at the receiver position.
But Smith-Schuster will hardly be the only person of whom Mike Tomlin has greater expectations in 2019. And those greater expectations start with the guy he sees when he looks in the mirror every morning.
"We were a 9-6-1 football team last year," Tomlin said Tuesday at the NFL Meetings. "We all need to look in the mirror at what we do and how we do it, starting with me. That’s the approach I’m taking. I think that reflection is a part of this when you have failure. I consider last year a failure. So the analysis of how we operate and how I function within that is a natural part of procedure."
Brown and Bell are gone, now members of the Raiders and Jets, respectively. And the Steelers are ready to move on.
The Steelers have taken a beating of late on how they have operated, and both Bell and Brown have pointed fingers at Ben Roethlisberger for his leadership skills. Tomlin doesn't have an issue with Roethlisberger's leadership, though he does expect the 15-year veteran to continue to grow in that capacity.
"I have no problem with his play or his leadership. I’ve heard some of the scuttlebutt. I’m focused on the guys within our group on our team," Tomlin said.
"You don’t do what he has done, at the level at which he has done it, without responding appropriately to challenges and adversity. That’s just in his DNA."
Tomlin expects Smith-Schuster to respond the same way to the challenge of being a true No. 1 receiver.
Smith-Schuster caught 111 passes for 1,426 yards and seven touchdowns last season, a total that would automatically qualify him as a No. 1 receiver on most teams. But even he admitted the attention Brown received from opponents was a big part of his success.
Now, he must plan on getting additional attention from opposing teams as the top receiving threat, as he makes the adjustment from being a No. 2 receiver to a No. 1.
"We don’t live in that two-to-one world. I don’t know when Ben is dropping back he’s looking at it with that mentality," Tomlin said. "He’s just looking for someone who is open within the confines of a concept. I know what you mean in terms of the attention he might get from opposing teams, but it’s our job to balance those things out. I’m sure he’s excited about meeting the challenge and the responsibility that comes with the attention."
That will be critical for the Steelers moving forward. Brown averaged 116 catches for 1,590 yards and 12 touchdowns over the past six years.
But Conner replicated Bell's success last season. And the expectation for the Steelers is that they'll find ways to do the same with Brown's production.
More contributions will be expected not only from Smith-Schuster, but from James Washington in his second season and free-agent acquisition Donte Moncrief, as well.
The plays will have to come from somewhere.
"We’ll see. I know that we’ve got some plays that need to be made," Tomlin said. "So, somebody’s got to make them. (Smith-Schuster and Conner) better make plays. We’d better acquire and develop people to assist them.
"The tape will tell the story. The tape will do the talking. They need no bold predictions from me. I’m excited about the opportunities that they have and the talent they have, the ways they work. We’ll see where the journey takes us."
The same could be said of the offensive line.
Tomlin called the loss of offensive line coach Mike Munchak "significant." Munchak left after the season to take the same position with the Broncos after first being a finalist for the head coaching position there. Denver hired former Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio instead, but then lured Munchak away.
Munchak has family in the Denver area.
Tomlin quickly elevated Munchak's assistant, Shaun Sarrett, as his replacement.
"We’ve developed Shaun Sarrett for a number of years and I have complete confidence in his overall readiness," Tomlin said. "That’s why I acted as swiftly as I did. We’ve been prepared for the last few years to lose Munch. He’s been a head-coaching candidate for a number of years. I’m excited for this opportunity for Shaun and I can’t wait to see what he brings to the group from a leadership position."
There's that leadership term again. It's a word that has been bandied about quite a bit regarding the Steelers. And it remains to be seen which players will step forward in that regard in the upcoming season.
He's ready to move forward and put the past in the past.
"I think we’re going to develop that for 2019 and I don’t want to assume anything as we sit here," Tomlin said. "Whatever our roles were in 2018, I don’t want to assume anything in 2019. I’m looking forward to growth and development from some men, and maybe them developing in a leadership way. We’ll write that story."
