Like many NFL teams, the Steelers held their first practice of mandatory minicamp today, which gave us a sneak peak at some of the storylines that figure to dominate our algorithms for the next few weeks as we brace ourselves for training camp.

Even though Will Howard doesn’t have elite arm talent, that doesn’t mean he’s relegated to journeyman QB hell at the NFL level. He’s got a few things going for him that can take his game to the next level if he hones in on them in the NFL; in fact, he stands on two of those things. Howard’s dual-threat-ability can be a forgotten part of his game…but you better keep a spy on that big sumbitch.

After several months of speculation, Aaron Rodgers arrived at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex in Pittsburgh early this morning to sign a one-year deal to play quarterback for the Steelers. The deal includes $10M guaranteed and maxes out at $19.5M if things go well for both sides.

Yahya Black is an awesome pick in the 5th round, and a great addition to our defense against the run. However, he is an early down rotational piece at best, specifically at NT, and we need to remember that as we track his progress this year.

And, we can argue up and down about whether or not the Steelers had the LUXURY of taking him with that pick when they did, but there’s no arguments to be made about the value of the player at 123rd overall.

Johnson showed big-play-ability in 2022 and 2023, but he really gained national popularity in 2024 when he rushed for over 1500 yards, and set the Iowa Hawkeyes’ single-season rushing touchdown record with 21. He also earned First-Team All-Big Ten, and Big Ten RB of the Year honors.

Despite the fact that I’ve been a vocal opponent of the idea of trading Pickens for a while now, even following the acquisition of D.K. Metcalf, I understand why the Steelers chose to make this move. As fans, we have to understand that we’re currently staring down the barrel of Mason Rudolph as our starting QB this season, and George Pickens playing on an expiring contract.

Harmon is a Pittsburgh Steeler through-and-through. I’ve already mentioned his rust belt background, but don’t take it from me; NFL execs feel that way too. Draft analyst Lance Zeirlein quoted an unnamed NFL executive as saying: “He plays like a Raven or a Steeler. Off the tape, he reminds me of a young Cam Heyward but bigger."

I have to say, just from following the draft all weekend, the board seemed to be falling extremely well for the Steelers. I’ll get into the details of that throughout this post, but based on the team’s pre-draft visits and team needs, they pretty much had free reign at a lot of guys they showed quite a bit of interest in.