STEELERS

After hosting players for team meetings, several of the Steelers' assistant coaches addressed the media Wednesday at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. There's a lot to cover from the various availabilities with each coach, so I figured laying this out in bullets is the most efficient way to provide all of the necessary information.

• Tom Arth has a steep challenge ahead of him, trying to develop two young quarterbacks at the same time. Right now, the focus is more on Will Howard than Drew Allar, mainly because the Steelers are giving Howard every chance to prove that he can be a quarterback worth keeping.

And so far, it appears Howard is checking all the right boxes.

"He's doing everything and more that we can ask of him. He is exceeding expectations. We couldn't be happier with where he is at," Arth said Wednesday. "He's performed well here in OTAs up to this point. But once we get to training camp and into preseason, I think that's where the true evaluation will start to take place."

Yup. Just as Dejan Kovacevic reported. It's one thing to do it in shorts. It's something else entirely to do it when there's live football. While Howard's exceeding expectations in May, there's a long way to go before anyone chisels his name in stone for the 53-man roster in September.

• Jalen Ramsey will be a "chess piece" in the defense, as defensive coordinator Patrick Graham put it earlier this offseason. However, assistant head coach/secondary coach Joe Whitt Jr. had a more detailed way of describing how Ramsey will be weaponized.

"His skill set lends himself to doing that, I'm not going to really compare him to a guy that I coached, but the way we use Charles Woodson in Green Bay," Whitt said Wednesday. "He played the star, he played corner, he played safety, he played the money. He did those things. Charles could do it all in one game. He was one of the rare guys that could do it. Jalen has a similar skill set, similar size, similar speed, so (I'm) just excited to see how we work with him and the way that we use him."

The "star" role is the nickel cornerback and "money" role, as defined by Whitt, is the "third-down, Will-type position." In other words, you're going to see Ramsey all over the defense, playing close to the line of scrimmage, in the box and deep at safety. He's going to do it all.

• Who will start between Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle? Well, the pecking order hasn't truly been defined, and won't until the first official depth chart is released in August.

That being said, there's a definitive vision for how Mike McCarthy will deploy Warren and Dowdle.

"Per game, it will define itself," said running backs coach Ramon Chinyoung Sr. "What scheme we're going to highlight, what scheme we're going to basically star in that game and things of that nature. But, when it comes to Jaylen and Rico, Coach (McCarthy) will define that. He wants two fresh backs at all times. So we'll find ways to make sure that we get them on the field and they have equal amount of ample time on the field."

• While the Steelers still don't have a set timeline for Broderick Jones while he rehabs from a season-ending neck injury, offensive line coach James Campen did confirm Wednesday that Jones -- if and when he's cleared to play -- will remain at tackle and not kick inside to guard.

"Obviously, he'll be a tackle," Campen said. "And just hoping that he needs to get healthy, and he's doing what he can now, and he does participate with all the doctor rules and those things. So we're just excited to get him back, and when he's ready, then that's another piece of the puzzle, I'd say. That's a good football player."

It is interesting that Campen did not specify what side Jones will play, which possibly indicates Jones might not automatically slide back into a starting role. That's understandable since Troy Fautanu is fixed in the starting lineup, currently playing in Jones' former left tackle position, and both Dylan Cook and first-round pick Max Iheanachor are eyeing starting positions of their own on the right side.

Jones has played both the left and right sides for the Steelers, so he's capable to fill in that role.

• There's been a lot of talk on the outside that both Keeanu Benton and Yahya Black had been miscast in the previous coaching regime. Benton's primarily played nose tackle while Black predominantly played defensive end in the base 3-4 defensive front.

New defensive line coach Domata Peko said Wednesday that nose tackle is still in the plan for Benton, but really stressed the desire to move him around more often.

"We're going to mix and match and see what's best for him," Peko said. "What really separates him is his quickness. He has really good lateral quickness. As far as going from B (gap) to A (gap) or A gap to B gap, he's really good on his movements. That's one of the things that separates him from some of the other guys."

For Black, while Peko wasn't as detailed, it sure sounds like there will be more of an extended look for Black at nose tackle.

"I feel like he can be one of the best nose (tackle)s in the game if he just keeps on doing what he's been doing," Peko said. "He's really good on his technique, his details. I just want to sharpen him up get him really going and try to bring out the best in him."