Coming off back-to-back 8-8 seasons, the Pittsburgh Steelers have a much different look than they had just two seasons ago.
But with so many new faces now wearing black-and-gold over the course of the past 24 months, that doesn’t necessarily mean that there will be much competition for playing time.
As OTA’s began on Tuesday for the Steelers, there were really only three jobs apparent that there would be competition for, which is rare for a team that has missed the playoffs the past couple of seasons.
One of those is at wide receiver, where second-year pro Markus Wheaton lined up as the starter opposite Antonio Brown.
Wheaton, their third-round pick in 2013, caught only six passes as a rookie. He also missed four games with a hand injury and had surgery after the season.
However with the Steelers losing three of their top receivers (Mike Wallace, Emmanuel Sanders and Jerricho Cotchery) in a 14-month span, it goes without saying that they need someone to step up in a big way.
Judging by his collegiate career and some nice signs during camp last season, Wheaton has the ability to be a playmaker in this Steelers offense.
He will be given the opportunity to do so. We will find out in July if he takes advantage of it.
If he does the Steelers will have a surprisingly deep wide receiver core for the upcoming season.
If the youngster doesn’t, he could once again find himself buried on the depth chart.
Needless to say that Mike Tomin isn’t without options as the Steelers brought in guys like Lance Moore and Darrius Heyward-Bey via free agency and used a fourth-round pick in this month’s draft on Clemson’s tall target Martavis Bryant.
The other two jobs that seem to be up for grabs is at defensive end opposite Cameron Heyward and at inside linebacker next to Lawrence Timmons.
Both of those jobs could be filled by rookies.
First-round pick Ryan Shazier was lining up with the first-team defense the past two days.
Timmons started all 16 games last season as the ‘Mack’ linebacker, but the Steelers went through Larry Foote (one start), Kion Wilson (two starts), Vince Williams (11 starts) and Terence Garvin (one start) at ‘Buck’ linebacker.
Pittsburgh’s answer to that was to draft Shazier with the 15th-overall pick. And while nothing is official at this time, seeing Shazier run with the first team this early speaks volumes about the Steelers’ investment and Shazier’s potential.
As for Stephon Tuitt, the Steelers second-round pick out of Notre Dame, could have the upper edge on staring at defensive end, which isn’t a surprise due to the Steelers overall lack of depth at the position.
The Steelers lost two free agents- Ziggy Hood and Al Woods- and declined to bring Brett Keisel back for another season. Even though young defensive ends tend not to make an immediate impact in the Steelers 3-4 scheme, they may not have a choice but to start Tuitt.
In other OTA news, center Maurkice Pouncey, returning from a torn ACL suffered last season is looking good and has no limitations right now.
Two Steelers starters- Ike Taylor and Troy Polamalu- chose not to take part in the voluntary workouts.
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