Steelers GM Omar Khan speaks

I think that for the offense, our 2 biggest issues are the O line and the QB.

I feel that we have improved at RB. I loved Najee's toughness and durability, but he lacked vision and burst speed. Kaleb Johnson should be an upgrade for that spot.

At the WR spot, I would love 2 known top notch receivers. We have DK Metcalf. From a penalty comparison, he looks to be about the same as Pickens. But Metcalf has normal hand fighting WR penalties and 2 unnecessary roughness calls for 2024. Pickens had a taunting and an unsportsmanlike call in 2024 in addition to the hand fighting calls. Taunting and Unsportsmanlike calls are shooting your collective team's foot with a gun you are holding. Unacceptable. I remember a bunch of other times last year where I was yelling at the tv for Pickens to just turn his back and move away because he was often over the line on his conduct, but it just did not get called. Bottom line is that I do think DK is an upgrade over Pickens.

Last year, we lost Roman Wilson preseason. But, he is a 3rd round pick and was back around mid November I think? But they chose to leave him sitting for the remainder of the year. So he did not get to play last year. But he is supposed to be good and he did have an entire year to shadow and NFL team. I expect to see big things from him this year. It going to be his rookie year on the field, but I am hoping that unlike KFP, Wilson learned a lot while he was on the sidelines.

We also have Calvin Austin. Hopefully a few other WRs will be able to fill in the gaps and give us some depth. And use the TEs! Please!

The O line. Who knows. Our last good year there was probably 10 years ago.

QB is the pit of quicksand. Maybe Howard will be an upgrade? MR has had several chances and failed to capitalize on any of them. He stepped in for Big Ben and played like a backup would be expected to. I don't get the feeling that he had a completely fair shake the year we drafted KFP. KFP seemed to be predetermined to be the starter, but either way, MR did not show enough to win the job. And then MR had a great shot with the Titans. They pulled their QB and gave MR the starter's job for 5 games when they benched Levis. MR went 1 and 4. He had a QBR of 55.5 in 2024 with 228 pass attempts. That is pretty bad. So, whether he has had a fair shake or not, he has had a few chances to step up and he did not take that leap......imo

 

The part where he says "we will see how much these guys play"? Isn't that a determining factor in where the comp pick comes? Like if they sign someone and then that person only plays a portion of the season, or gets cut, the comp pick goes down (or vice versa)? Wouldn't the comp pick be different for Russ if he's a 17 game starter and a PB selection instead of playing 6 games in getting benched? I could be wrong of course. I think it matters too for how much your own signings play too. I didn't read that much into it.

 

I think the OL is more of a question mark than an issue. We have a few guys that will be full time starters for the first time (Fautanu and McCormick), we have a pretty awesome looking 2nd year center, another guard that is aging and a bit up and down but solid enough overall, and a young player that struggled when pushed to play on the right side (not his natural position) but is not shifting back to the left. There are a wide range of outcomes. Fautanu could underwhelm, McCormick shows nothing more than just a fringe starter ability, Frazier could not progress, Seumalo could start to slow down, and Jones could be as bad at left as he was at right.... All of that happening at once makes it a bottom 5 unit. OR the young guys could all take a step forward and Seumalo could improve his consistency, and boom, we have a pretty solid unit. Its just too hard to predict. I just hope we can keep all 5 starters healthy going into the season.

QB is pretty obvious. We took a flier on Howard, and I hope that he can impress enough for us to want to give him an opportunity at some point this year... but a lot would have to go right for him to keep us from drafting a QB early in '26. Our plans here extend beyond the season... so we can only wait and see here.

I don't know what to expect from Wilson. He got hurt pretty early into camp (though, I do remember him having a few good practices before getting hurt) and never really made it onto the field. I'd love for him to be a nice player for us, but it is hard to know what to expect since we got to see pretty much zero of him all year. I wouldn't count on him being an immediate contributor, but will gladly take it if he is. He will be what the WR room hinges on if we make no more additions. If he is solid, then the unit should be better than last year's. If he sucks, then our WR room will be as bad as (or worse than) last year's.

Mason will give us quality enough play. Most games he will be just okay and might have a few nice flashes like he did a couple years ago in Cincy and Seattle. He will have a few really rough ones too (like Russ in the last 5 games rough). He's not a starting caliber QB, and will only be a starter as long as he can hold off Howard (which could be as early as week 1, or he could have the job all season, who knows). At this point, I think the best thing for our franchise is to roll with Mason for a year and give Howard a shot at the end of the season. Use the latter part of the year to assess which players are keepers/build around types and which ones need to be upgraded. We have a ton of capital in the 2026 draft, so we can be as aggressive as we want in the first two days, or simply just add a bunch of new faces. We should have a ton of money in FA as well, so making proper decisions there needs to happen as well. I have a feeling that the turnover between 2024 and 2026 will be immense. Hopefully it is for the better.

 

Those last 4 bullet points are all wait and see.

 

That's a given for a lot of analysis right now - draft grades, free agency grades, roster rankings, etc.

 

I miss the Cowher days. Cowher fired people just about every year. Whatever happened to this?

 

I'm focused on running a 3-minute mile.

 

He also fired a OC for Kordell, when it was really a Kordell problem. That same OC went on to win 2 SBs as a OC.....so

 

The training camp videos last year seemed to suggest he was creating a stir. I think he’ll surprise a few people this year

 

Man you guys are taking a DEEP dive into this. I'm so proud of all of you!

 

Khans answer is obviously not very good. Tomlins inability to both acquire and develop Offensive Personnel Circa 2019 is what needs to be discussed more. Khan was in a no win situation with George Pickens via Tomlins inefficiency.


We shall see how Roman Wilson pans out. He was one of my favorite WR Prospects from the 2024 group. I hope he will be able to take the next step that the team believes he can.

 

Nice post. Here's the same ranked according to % of team targets:

2024:

Pickens
Muth
Austin
Jefferson
Washington
Williams

This season I can easily see:

Metcalf
Muth
Austin
Wilson
Washington
Woods

Doesn't look all that much different to me.

On the other positions, fingers crossed Johnson is an upgrade over Harris. QB will be worse but it won't be like dropping off a cliff. Below is CBS' QB rankings for 2025. Notice where Wilson falls.

1
Jayden Daniels
Washington Commanders QB
2
Jalen Hurts
Philadelphia Eagles QB
3
Joe Burrow
Cincinnati Bengals QB
4
Lamar Jackson
Baltimore Ravens QB
5
Josh Allen
Buffalo Bills QB
6
Patrick Mahomes
Kansas City Chiefs QB
7
Matthew Stafford
Los Angeles Rams QB
8
Jordan Love
Green Bay Packers QB
9
Jared Goff
Detroit Lions QB
10
Brock Purdy
San Francisco 49ers QB
11
Baker Mayfield
Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB
12
Justin Herbert
Los Angeles Chargers QB
13
C.J. Stroud
Houston Texans QB
14
Dak Prescott
Dallas Cowboys QB
15
Bo Nix
Denver Broncos QB
16
Caleb Williams
Chicago Bears QB
17
Geno Smith
Las Vegas Raiders QB
18
Trevor Lawrence
Jacksonville Jaguars QB
19
Drake Maye
New England Patriots QB
20
J.J. McCarthy
Minnesota Vikings QB
21
Tua Tagovailoa
Miami Dolphins QB
22
Sam Darnold
Seattle Seahawks QB
23
Kyler Murray
Arizona Cardinals QB
24
Justin Fields
New York Jets QB
25
Cam Ward
Tennessee Titans QB
26
Bryce Young
Carolina Panthers QB
27
Michael Penix Jr.
Atlanta Falcons QB
28
Russell Wilson
New York Giants QB
29
Joe Flacco
Cleveland Browns QB
30
Anthony Richardson
Indianapolis Colts QB
31
Mason Rudolph
Pittsburgh Steelers QB
32
Tyler Shough
New Orleans Saints QB

 

The fit was not ideal under this OC for Kordell too.Fit matter sometimes...They finish at 13-3 the year after but losing Gailey after 1997 was a big loss for Kordell and the steelers

 

Who? Gailey was promoted to HC and hired by Cowboys. Gillbride? Mularkey?

 

He was talking about Gillbride...He won 2 SB with the giants

 

I think this is for fantasy football their rankings....

 

Actually, SIS scouting service had Allen before Mahomes as well. Mahomes had 26 TDs/11 INTs and 300 yds of rushing, Allen 28 TDs/6 INTs, 500+ yards of rushing. The one I would question is putting Ward at 25 when he hasn't played a down in the NFL yet.

But nobody noticed the season Burrow had because their defense sucked so bad, 43 TDs/9 INTs and a hair under 5,000 yds and he's primed to run it back again this season.

 

At least Mason Rudolph isn't dead last, at least until Tyler Shough gets some game time.

 

I have to notice how they feel about MR as a starting QB.


I think Caleb Williams might just jump up this list with a breakout 2nd season.


As low as they have Wilson ranked, they still think he's an upgrade for us.