Kovacevic: Are the Steelers really out on left tackle?

Two months ago, when Mike Tomlin, Omar Khan and crew were scouting the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., they paid particularly close attention to Tennessee offensive tackle Darnell Wright. 

That's not news. That was evident to all in attendance. 

But what I've learned beyond that is that, at that event, they did lots of asking as to whether Wright might embrace a move to guard, something few college prospects at his position like to do. (Pays a lot less.) I don't know what those answers were, but I do know that Wright's made plain in other settings that he'd prefer to stay put.

Now, a month after that, the Steelers signed Isaac Seumalo to play left guard for three years and $24 million out of free agency.

And ever since, all I've heard on this broader front is ... well, way less regarding the offensive line in general.

Think about it this way: Even back in February, when the whole crew was working the field in Mobile, the focus wasn't on replacing Dan Moore Jr. but, rather, Kevin Dotson. And as soon as Dotson got bumped, which he most assuredly has been by the Seumalo signing, every indication from within -- and for what it's worth, every outside expert everywhere -- began citing cornerback as the single greatest shortcoming on the roster and, thus, the one most in need of help via the draft.

Connecting the dots here?

As a wise person once spoke, in essence, tune out the noise and just watch what they do. In the Steelers' case, specifically, they tend to not engage in a ton of draft subterfuge. Or any, in some years, like the past two, when the entire football world knew they'd pursue first a running back, then a quarterback. Tomlin's spoken of this openly: He doesn't care who knows what about what they're planning.

My feeling, from all this, is that, while management would love nothing more than to land some future defensive-line fixture, the class just doesn't align that way. Whereas it sure does when it comes to cornerback and, yeah, tight end and wide receiver.

I don't bet but, if I did, I'd push all my chips to the middle on a corner. And in that event, one with a very familiar surname.

MORE STEELERS

• More clues on that same trail: When the Steelers signed Patrick Peterson, Tomlin didn't need to speak one syllable about the possibility of moving Peterson about the secondary. But he did. And as such, if one sees that possibility as real, it'd mean Cam Sutton was lost to the Lions, and the lone replacement was a corner ... who might not be a corner?

• Still more: There isn't an inside linebacker who'll be in their range, and that still might be the position that'd make the biggest long-term difference on this defense.

• Mark Robinson's going to be more in the inside linebacker mix than I'd previously thought. Hm.

• I'm told that Bud Dupree took it hard that the Steelers wouldn't give in to his wish for a one-year, prove-it contract -- they wanted two -- which is why he wound up in Atlanta at one year for $5 million. He was legit convinced at times during the talks with Khan that he'd be back, but Khan and Tomlin felt good enough about his physical that they wanted him to be a big part of their defense again and, from what I heard, wanted him to push Alex Highsmith, who's due an extension this summer. 

• Dupree even sent Highsmith a text to that effect after signing with the Falcons.

• There'll be plenty of discussion in the next few days over who calls the shots in the Steelers' draft room on the South Side. One name will often be omitted, and it shouldn't: Art Rooney II is in that room, and he's an active participant. That won't change.

• By the time this draft's done, the working theme will be adding across-the-board youth to the defense.

PENGUINS

• Absolute zero word from PPG Paints Arena on anything related to the GM search, though the one thing I've heard peripherally is that Fenway Sports Group would prefer a genuinely strong, authoritative presence in Pittsburgh in some form. Whether that's just a GM who's in full control -- which is a possibility -- or a GM with oversight, they want someone here to take the bullets. This is just me here, but I'm guessing that's so they don't have to take those bullets themselves from Boston, where they all live and where they'd prefer to stay.

• The first place most teams look for GMs in any search, of course, is through the assistant GM ranks. And the first name that's popping to mind among some who care about the franchise is that of Jason Botterill. He was the GM in Buffalo for three seasons, 2017-20, and now serves as Ron Francis' assistant GM in Seattle. Before that, he'd been with the Penguins beginning in 2007 and made many strong connections here. He also has plenty of the analytical bent it's expected FSG will seek from the role. Unrelated but I can't leave it out: Great dude.

• Not that this required gold-medaling in the Mental Olympics, but bear in mind that it was Francis/Botterill who'd raid the Penguins more than any other team in the expansion draft. And it's Botterill's who's been a consistent presence at games in Pittsburgh as Francis' main eyes and ears at the NHL level.

• Congrats to whichever genius at FSG thought it was a good idea to send out a plea for donations to the Boston Red Sox's 'Jimmy Fund' ... to the Penguins' season-ticket base. You know, instead of doing so for the Mario Lemieux Foundation or -- gasp! -- the Penguins Foundation.

• The more I hear about Ron Hextall's still-psychotic Mikael Granlund trade, the more I hear no one was consulted outside the three gentlemen who were fired. Which, to be honest, is just about the only plausible explanation I've heard to date.

• Why hadn't I heard that previously? Don't overthink it: Lips get a lot looser after a mass firing.

• Delighted to hear Jan Rutta finally got the core muscle surgery he's needed for weeks now. I've gotten to know Rutta off the ice, and I'll just share here that it was hell for him to take the ice for those final three relevant games, but he did it, anyway ... and played harder than about half the rest of the lineup. Hockey players are just built different, man.

PIRATES

• What a setting that clubhouse has become these days. When done with Insider, be sure to go read my column from PNC Park last night. Has kind of an Insider-y feel, anyway.

• The players will attest, to a man, that the foundation for all this was laid in Bradenton. Chiefly the mindset. As Carlos Santana told me after the game last night, "We had to tell the kids to just believe in themselves, go to the ballpark, work hard for three hours, play good baseball, and then come back the next day and do it again. That's what we're doing. We don't change. Every day is a new day. We just try to do the same thing again." As I'd previously reported, Santana, Andrew McCutchen, Rich Hill and a few others banded together in Florida to set that leadership in motion.

• One player offered this to me last night about the Pirates' 13-7 start: "Too bad the Rays are doing what they're doing, or more people would be talking about us, right?" Tampa Bay's 16-3, so I robustly agreed. But did anyone realize that it'll be Pirates vs. Rays in the first week of May down in St. Petersburg, Fla.? This individual did.

• Pay little attention to the paid attendance of 14,051 for the first game of this homestand following a terrific road trip. Two reasons for that: 1. As any sports exec will attest, it takes two weeks for ticket sales to catch up with events. 2. A base crowd for a Thursday night in April against the Reds -- meaning season-ticket plus group sales -- would be around 12,000. I heard that there was an extraordinary walkup of more than 1,000 for this, and I saw first-hand that these tickets didn't go to waste with big lines for the T at the North Shore Station more than a half-hour afterward:

This won't take long at all to bloom.

• On top of that, the energy the crowd brought in the eighth and ninth innings was rare air unto itself. More than one player told me they both noticed and appreciated it.

• This is wild, huh?

• Thanks for reading Insider. I mean that.