LATROBE, Pa. -- A glance at the box score from the Steelers' preseason-opening 32-25 win Saturday night over the Seahawks might cause some alarms to go off if you didn't watch the game or were simply looking at things at face value.
After all, the Seahawks rushed for 159 yards on 26 carries in the game, something that would be a continuation of the 2021 season, when the Steelers ranked dead last in the NFL in rushing defense.
But a closer look at things shows the team didn't play defensive linemen Cam Heyward, Tyson Alualu and Larry Ogunjobi, or outside linebackers T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith in their preseason opener.
Those five would constitute five starters in the team's front seven, meaning the Steelers were playing with a bunch of backups throughout the game. And the Seahawks, who are having a quarterback competition between Geno Smith and Drew Lock to see who replaces Russell Wilson played a number of their front-line guys deep into the game.
It was of little consolation to Mike Tomlin.
"We have to have better gap integrity, but we talked about that after the game," Tomlin said Monday as the Steelers returned to training camp practices at Saint Vincent College. "We won’t grade on the curve based on who’s available or who’s playing. The 11 on the field represent us, the standards that we live by, and we weren’t strong enough particularly against the run. We didn’t tee up our situational ball well enough because we were weak against the run at times in game."
That's why the team is anxious to see what things will look like this Saturday in its second preseason game when it travels to Jacksonville to face the Jaguars.
The Steelers have been cautious with Heyward, Alualu, Ogunjobi and Watt in this camp, largely because Alualu and Ogunjobi are coming back from injuries, while Heyward and Watt, a pair of first-team All-Pro players, are too valuable to lose in a training camp setting.
Highsmith, meanwhile, has been missing for the past week after suffering a rib injury last Monday in a practice at Latrobe Memorial Stadium.
But it appears the team is full speed ahead for the game against the Jaguars this week. The Steelers were in pads and going live on Monday and all five of those players, with the exception of Highsmith, were active and seeing time.
They're hoping they'll get a chance to get on the field together in Jacksonville to see if the issues with the run defense a year ago -- largely due to injuries to Alualu and Stephon Tuitt -- have been fixed.
"Yeah, for sure," Alualu said. "It will be a good test just to see where we’re at."
Judging from some of the things we've seen in short spurts, it might no be bad. For example, Ogunjobi, signed in June after Tuitt announced his retirement, teamed with strong safety Terrell Edmunds Monday to stuff Jaylen Warren short of the goal line on the opening play of Seven Shots at Monday's practice.
Ogunjobi has been eased into things after suffering a season-ending foot injury while playing for the Bengals in their playoff opener last season. But when he's been on the field, he's made his presence known.
"I wouldn’t say it was difficult," Ogunjobi told me of picking up the defense after being signed after minicamp and not practicing the first two weeks here. "I would just say it requires more time away from it as far as working by yourself to understand things. From a scheme standpoint, things aren’t too difficult to pick up. I’m learning the defense really well. They’re interjecting me in ways so that I can understand what I’m doing and my assignments."
But with the start of the regular season now less than a month away, it's time to take the reworked front 7 out of bubble wrap and see how it all looks.
Inside linebacker Myles Jack, also signed in the offseason, played the first couple of series against the Seahawks and looked good. While the team continues to rotate Devin Bush and Robert Spillane at the other inside linebacker spot in hopes one will emerge as the obvious starter next to Jack.
But the key is what those other five players up front do.
The Steelers have led the NFL in sacks an unprecedented five consecutive seasons. No opponent wants to have its quarterback dropping back to pass 40 to 50 times against this defense with no threat of a running game.
To get those sacks, the defense has to win on first and second down.
"You see it with the personnel we’ve got up front. Everything works together, whether it’s rush and coverage, it’s guys working to get to the quarterback and affect them in any way," Alualu said of leading the league in sacks the past five seasons. "You definitely take pride in that, but to do that, we’ve got to stop the run. We know there are areas we understand we need to get better at and we’re working on that."
CUTTING TO 53
With a preseason game and nearly three weeks of training camp practices in hand, it's a good time to start paring down the roster to get to 53 players.
NFL teams have until Aug. 30 to do so, which means this will happen for real in two weeks.
But here's how I see things now:
Quarterbacks (3) -- Mitch Trubisky, Mason Rudolph, Kenny Pickett
All three had their moments in last Saturday's win and all three have had their moments in training camp. I know some continue to push for Rudolph to be traded, but that would leave rookie Chris Oladokun as the No. 3, and he's taken about two more offensive snaps in this training camp than I have. He's destined for the practice squad. Pickett took second-team snaps Monday, but that was expected. He and Rudolph have traded off on that pretty consistently over the past two weeks. Pickett had a chance to run the two-minute drill at the end of practice Monday after Trubisky and was picked off by Arthur Maulet to end practice.
Running backs (5) -- Najee Harris, Benny Snell, Anthony McFarland, Jaylen Warren, Derek Watt
With Harris and Snell sitting out the preseason opener -- Harris was back as a full participant in Monday's practice, while Snell remains out with a knee issue -- McFarland and Warren combined for 13 carries for 90 yards against the Seahawks. Both have looked good in camp, as well. Warren did fumble, which won't endear him to the coaching staff. Master Teague is just a guy, though he runs hard. So does Snell. And Snell is the more accomplished special teams player. I feel way better about this position than I did at the start of camp.
Wide receivers (6) -- Diontae Johnson, Chase Claypool, George Pickens, Gunner Olszewski, Calvin Austin, Anthony Miller
This is the most difficult cut on the team, especially with Austin (foot) and Miller (shoulder) dealing with injuries. But Miles Boykin (ribs) also is dealing with an injury, while Steven Sims and Tyler Vaughns have had their moments, as well. The injury status of Austin and Miller could affect this, but for now, they're on the roster.
Tight ends (3) -- Pat Freiermuth, Zach Gentry, Connor Heyward
The first two are givens and this team seems to have a real plan for Heyward, despite him being 6-foot and 230 pounds. He's been a pretty consistent target no matter who the quarterback has been and had two special teams tackles against the Seahawks. He'll certainly get the nod over Kevin Rader and Jace Sternberger.
Offensive line (9) -- Dan Moore, Chuks Okorafor, Mason Cole, James Daniels, Kendrick Green, Kevin Dotson, Joe Haeg, J.C. Hassenauer, John Leglue
Really, there hasn't been anyone else emerge to push their way into this group, so it looks similar to last season with the notable additions of Cole and Daniels. Dotson returned to practice Monday after missing a week with an ankle injury. We'll see if he can get back ahead of Green at left guard. Other than that, this group seems pretty set.
Defensive line (6) -- Cam Heyward, Tyson Alualu, Larry Ogunjobi, Isaiahh Loudermilk, Chris Wormley, DeMarvin Leal
Montravius Adams could work his way back into this -- if he can get back on the field. He's been out a week with an ankle injury. Do the Steelers need a true backup nose tackle when they're only in their base 3-4 defense about 20 to 25 percent of the time? Debatable.
Outside linebacker (4) -- T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, Genard Avery, Derrek Tuszka
Unlike running back, I feel worse about this position than I did at the start of camp. Avery has missed a good chunk of camp with an injury -- though he was back Monday -- while Tuszka has been OK, but not all that dynamic. This could be a position solidified by a veteran signing once cut downs happen.
Inside linebacker (5) -- Myles Jack, Devin Bush, Robert Spillane, Buddy Johnson, Marcus Allen
Jack looked good Saturday. The others? Not so much. Bush wasn't as bad as some are suggesting in that game, but he wasn't anything close to impactful, either. And Spillane is not the answer unless the question happens to be, "Who is the opposing offense going to throw this pass at?" He's a liability in coverage every time he steps on the field. Seventh-round pick Mark Robinson flashes, but not consistently. Avery could factor in here, as well, but the team hasn't made that move just yet because he's been injured. Allen makes it because you can't take all of Danny Smith's special teams stars away from him.
Defensive backs (9) -- Minkah Fitzpatrick, Terrell Edmunds, Cameron Sutton, Ahkello Witherspoon, Levi Wallace, Arthur Maulet, Damontae Kazee, Tre Norwood, James Pierre
A tough place to cut, but veterans such as Miles Killebrew and Justin Layne -- two special teams stars last season -- don't make it. There's a pretty good group here. And this really shows how position-less football has become. Is Norwood a corner or safety? What about Maulet? Kazee also can play deep safety or drop down and play the slot.
Specialists (3) -- Chris Boswell, Pressley Harvin, Christian Kuntz
Not too much to think about here.
As you can see, there are some tough cuts with this team. And those will continue to evolve.
Injuries can affect everything. And even on this roster, I'm cutting a number of players who have NFL experience -- including starting experience.
But remember that teams can keep 16 players on their practice squads, and six of those players can have two or more years of NFL experience. So, teams can stash guys a little more easily.
I would expect the Steelers to take advantage of that at wide receiver, offensive line, defensive line and defensive back. They could still use some help at inside and outside linebacker.
