Omar Khan Talks Kenny Pickett, Justin Fields, ILB, and More at the NFL Combine
Steelers GM Omar Khan spoke to the media at the NFL Combine on Thursday, and gave us a whole lot of nothing about the team’s plans during free agency and the draft.
We shouldn’t be surprised; the Steelers have always held their cards close to their vest. Nonetheless, Steelers Nation is going wild elaborating on his words on social media, so I figured I’d chime in.
We all knew he was going to be fielding (no pun intended) questions about the QB position throughout his time at the combine, and the folks with media access didn’t disappoint. Omar Khan had this to say about our (current) presumptive starter: “Right now, we have one guy under contract. It’s Kenny Pickett. Feel really good about Kenny, but he knows, and we all know there’s gonna be a competition in the room.”
This is almost the verbatim answer we got from Mike Tomlin during our end-of-season presser. Earlier in the day on Thursday, when he was asked about Kenny Pickett by a separate member of the media, he expressed that he has “full confidence” in Kenny moving forward. For whatever reason, this triggered the Kenny Pickett hate mob, but Khan said it best with the quote I just gave you: “WE HAVE ONE GUY UNDER CONTRACT.” It’s beyond me why Steeler fans expected him to shit on the one quarterback that is committed to us this season, but we have been known to be an emotional bunch, so it is what it is.
Khan also expressed his desire to keep Mason Rudolph in a Steelers uniform, saying: “he knows we want him back.”
Rudolph made a case for himself to get a decent deal as he’ll be testing free agency for the first time in his career after appearing in four games last season and throwing for 719 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Khan and Coach Tomlin have both said publicly that they want him to be in the room heading into this season, so we’ll see if the two sides can get a deal done. From where I sit, I can’t imagine it will happen. Mason Rudolph has been dealt a pretty bad hand by both this team and its fanbase, but maybe the vote of confidence he’s been getting from both sides lately will influence him to stick it out with us.
Khan was also asked about the Justin Fields rumors, but again, he didn’t give us much to go off of, saying: “we’re gonna look at everything.”
He might-as-well get that quote tattooed on his forehead. I can’t tell you how many times he answered a question with those exact words on Thursday.
As a fan, one thing that had me concerned at the tail end of the 2023 season was the lack of depth in the secondary and at the ILB position. In fact, while keeping up with the Steelers subreddit and social media posts from fans, I’m surprised that more people don’t recognize the need for additions to the ILB position. When asked about his level of confidence in the depth of the team at ILB and in the secondary, Khan highlighted the struggles we faced with the injuries to Cole Colcomb, who still doesn’t have a solid timetable to play football again, and Kwon Alexander, who is a free agent. He added (speaking on the ILB position): “obviously a position we have to address.”
Trust me, I’m aware of the glaring needs on our offensive line, defensive line, and in the secondary, but we should not be surprised if and when the team elects to address the ILB position in the early rounds of the draft. That will be a crucial pick for us, and something I'll definitely be keeping my eye on.
To segway on the needs at offensive line, Omar Khan also discussed that during the combine on Thursday, and he had this to say: “We’re looking at everything. We have a need, but we have Nate Herbig, and we have some other players that have some flexibility, but we’re gonna look at everything.”
Like I said: just tattoo that on his forehead. Again, that answer means a whole-lot-of-nothing. This is a center-heavy draft, and I fully expect us to take a young, NFL-ready center early in the draft; probably with the number 20 overall pick.
Those are my biggest takeaways from Khan’s words today. There’s not much to read into there, but like I said, since this was such a hot topic on social media, I decided to address it. What yinz think? Did you take something else away that I may have missed? Let me know on the socials!
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