It's the time of year when many of the national writers and web sites come out with their lists. You know, the top-10 this, the best-five that.
Over the weekend, I made the unfortunate decision to look at a couple of these click-bait articles.
The first was about the top-five running back battles heading into training camp. And, you guessed it, it listed the Steelers as having a running back battles to watch in camp this year.
There's being slightly wrong about something and then there is being just completely off-target with your assessment. This one was most certainly the latter.
"Some may think he's going to enter camp as the unquestioned lead back, but I doubt it," the writer opined when speaking of Najee Harris. "He's going to have to battle for his touches early on. I expect him to take over as the lead back by season's end, but how quickly can he acquire that role?"
I'm not going to call him out by name or tell you the web site. Maybe you've already seen it. But let's just say this, when the Steelers open mini-camp next week, you can bet dollars to donuts that Harris will take the first-team reps. And you can bet when they open training camp in late July, it will be more of the same.
Harris will be the Steelers' starting running back this season. They didn't take him with the 24th pick in the draft to stand on the sideline holding his helmet, watching Benny Snell and Kalen Ballage carry the ball.
The second clickbait piece came from another site. This one ranked the Steelers as having the third-worst offseason in the NFL, behind even the Texans, who if you haven't noticed, have gotten rid of everyone on their roster and have a star quarterback who not only isn't likely to play for them this season but is untradeable because of legal issues.
The author is entitled to his opinion, but he's not entitled to the facts. And in his argument, he has some flaws in his theory.
First, he wrote about what the Steelers could have "Used their first-round pick on a lineman while signing one of the many running backs still available in free agency. Christian Darrisaw came off the board one pick before the Steelers at No. 23, but I have to think that they would have been better off with Darrisaw and a back such as Todd Gurley than they are with Harris and their current line situation."
Then, there was this doozy, "Start working on extensions for T.J. Watt and Minkah Fitzpatrick. Plenty of teams would love to have this problem, but the Steelers will have to find a way to extend their two young stars on defense over the next two years while struggling with cap constraints."
How, exactly would the Steelers have been better off with Darrisaw when he was already picked? And if Gurley is such a hot commodity, why hasn't anyone signed him to this point? How many carries does he have left in his 80-year-old arthritic knees that averaged 3.5 yards per carry in 2020?
As for the Steelers "struggling with cap constraints," they have $76.8 million in available cap space for 2022. And that includes paying Fitzpatrick his fifth-year option of $10.6 million.
This is not a problem at all.
Neither writer obviously did any research into the Steelers. They simply did a fly-by look from 20,000 feet.
This is why local journalism matters. A local reporter wouldn't make such obvious mistakes.
They would know Harris will be the Steelers' starter from Day 1 because that's been what's happening at every practice along the way thus far. And they would know the Steelers are in good cap shape heading into 2022.
As for knowing the Steelers couldn't select Darrisaw in the draft because he had already been selected? Well, that's another matter, considering the writer had just admitted Darrisaw was gone.
But it all just drives home the fact you can't believe everything you read when it comes to the national web sites. Stick with the local sites -- preferably here -- to get your local news.
YOUR TURN: Do you get your Steelers, Pirates and Penguins news from just one spot or do you peruse a number of different sites?
