LATROBE, Pa. -- A year ago at this time, Ola Adeniyi was an unknown commodity, memorable only because of his name as the Steelers entered training camp at Saint Vincent College.
But teammates quickly learned the rookie outside linebacker was no one to trifle with. There were a number of occasions during camp last season when Mike Tomlin would point out to an offensive lineman or tight end trying in vain to block Adeniyi that they were struggling with a former MAC defensive lineman.
And that was with Adeniyi working with a large cast on his right wrist to protect an injury he suffered early in camp that never fully healed.
"My right wrist is definitely better," Adeniyi told me Thursday as the Steelers reported to camp. "Last year, I went through the entire training camp with it, and then the entire season. This year, it's good."
Despite the issue, Adeniyi was good enough in training camp and the preseason to catch the eye of the coaching staff, recording three sacks despite the injury. After suffering a hamstring injury in the final preseason game, the team placed him on injured reserve and then designated him for return.
He was activated late in the season and though he appeared in just one game, spending four games on the inactive list, he's looking forward to a healthy training camp and the opportunity it could bring.
Adeniyi and Anthony Chickillo open camp as the top two backups to T.J. Watt and Bud Dupree. But he can't wait to show some of the things he was unable to a year ago.
"Starting out (last season), it definitely did affect me," Adeniyi said of the wrist injury. "I got called out for it in a meeting and told to adjust to it and play with it. It did slow me down a little bit. This year, with no cast on, I want to see what I can do.
"I feel good. Definitely a lot more confident. I can tell you that. Last year, coming in, my eyes were wide. Now, I feel a lot more confident."
MORE STEELERS
• Now that Tomlin's contract issue is accounted for, look for the Steelers to do the same with GM Kevin Colbert at some point before the regular season begins. It will be interesting to see if Colbert also inks a short extension or signs a longer deal. Tomlin's one-year deal with an option for another seems to be a compromise between the factions that didn't want Tomlin extended at all -- some of the investors -- and team president Art Rooney II. It also so happens that Tomlin's now wrapped up through the end of Ben Roethlisberger's contract with the Steelers in 2021. Don't think that was a coincidence, either. -- Lolley
PIRATES
• Neal Huntington was adamant Sunday that he has no plans to trade Felipe Vazquez. Multiple scouts and executives from around the major leagues who I have contacted this week believe Huntington is bluffing, to an extent, and will move his closer in the right deal. However, there is one reason why the Pirates might not trade Vazquez unless they are completely overwhelmed: They do not feel they have solid internal closer option at present. They believe Kyle Crick has the arm and makeup to handle the ninth inning, but his spotty control is cause for concern. Keone Kela closed for the Rangers last season but there is no way he will be back with the Pirates in 2020 following his two-game suspension by the team earlier this week. -- John Perrotto
• If Jameson Taillon does indeed need a second Tommy John surgery – and it is sure looking that way – the most disappointing part for the right-hander will be that he would be losing some of the prime years of his career. He has been limited to seven starts this year in his age-27 season. Surgery would cause him to miss 2019 and he would be 29 when the 2020 season starts. Not that Taillon would be ancient then, but he would also be at a point when many players start the downside of their careers. That would almost certainly end any chance Taillon would have of receiving a long-term contract, at least from the Pirates. There is no way the thrifty Pirates would incur the risk involved with a pitcher who had two Tommy John surgeries. – Perrotto
• Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJong hit three home runs against the Pirates on Wednesday night at PNC Park, continuing a fine season that has included his first selection to the All-Star Game earlier this month. The Pirates selected DeJong in the 38th round of the 2014 amateur draft out of Illinois State, but he did not sign. “We had some dialogue, but we never came close to an agreement,” DeJong told me. He went back to school – where he was a pre-med major -- and the Cardinals drafted him in the fourth round in 2015. Two years later, he was in the major leagues and now is one of the better young shortstops in baseball. And he could have been with the Pirates, who are on their third shortstop this season in Kevin Newman. – Perrotto
• I had a chance to talk with former Pirates coach Rick Peterson last Saturday at PNC Park before the ceremony marking the 40th anniversary of the franchise’s most recent World Series-winning team in 1979. His father, Harding "Pete" Peterson, was the Pirates’ general manager in ’79 and died April 16 at 89. Rick Peterson said his father passed peacefully in Florida after contracting a virus and that he had nearly a month to have final visits with family and friends before slipping away. – Perrotto
PENGUINS
• A lot of pro players participate in summer league hockey, seeing it as a good way to prepare for the coming season while not necessarily having to deal with the physicality and punishment of games in the winter. That includes three Penguins forwards -- Jake Guentzel, Teddy Blueger and Nick Bjugstad -- who are currently competing in Da Beauty League in Minnesota, which Taylor Haase has been reporting on throughout the summer. Whether the benefits of a player getting a head start on restoring his timing or getting his skating legs back versus the risk of injury -- even if it's by something as innocent as a deflected puck -- is a matter of conjecture, which might be why the Penguins' front office doesn't have a firm opinion on the merits of guys being involved in summer league. "It works for some players," Jim Rutherford said. "Some players need that extra work in the summer. We really don't take a position on that. It's more that the player has to decide." -- Dave Molinari
• Matt Cullen should be coming out of retirement sometime in the near future, but it still hasn't been determined what role he'll be filling for the Penguins when that happens. All concerned agree that Cullen, who ended his 21-year playing career earlier this month, will have continued employment with the team, but he seems like a viable candidate for any of several roles. Because of his deep knowledge of the game and excellent communications skills, it's easy to envision him handling some player-development duties. Conversely, his ability to identify the strengths and weaknesses of players' individual games suggests that he could be effective as a scout, too. One possibility is that Cullen might request a position that will limit the amount of travel he is required to do, since being with his family in Minnesota is a priority after spending so much time on the road for the past couple of decades -- Molinari
• Forward Zach Aston-Reese was the only Penguins player to file for salary arbitration this summer; that session was about to begin Monday in Toronto when the sides agreed to a two-year deal with an average annual value of $1 million. And while forcing management's hand by going to arbitration might strike some as an aggressive, even hostile, move by a player and his agent, Rutherford said he does not take it personally or hold any hard feelings toward a player who does it. "It's part of the process," he said. "Players file to protect themselves and keep the (negotiating) process going. I don't have any issues with it." -- Molinari