With or with out Aaron Rodgers, the Pittsburgh Steelers have an uphill battle within the AFC North with quarterbacks Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson among the many prime gamers within the league. However the longer Rodgers drags his toes, the broader that hole turns into.
“You want continuity,” Mike Tannenbaum mentioned through ESPN’s Get Up this morning. “They’ve good ability gamers, I feel DK Metcalf’s an amazing receiver. However for those who don’t have reps, it issues. And I take into consideration Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson and all of the reps they’ve had with their starters over time. They’re at a aggressive drawback. I feel they’re at a large drawback when you concentrate on the years that Burrow and Lamar Jackson have had in comparison with presumably what an Aaron Rodgers late June signing can be.”
A late June signing would imply Rodgers misses the complete offseason program, together with all six OTA periods and the three-day necessary minicamp in early June. He would simply have coaching camp to undergo a crash course along with his new teammates.
Whether or not or not he can shortly acclimate is just half of the battle. It’s a two-way road along with his move catchers and even his offensive line. How a lot velocity is on the passes? What’s his cadence like on the line of scrimmage? Are the Steelers putting in any audible packages, which have seemingly been very restricted lately? All the little issues matter, and there’s no solution to acquire that cohesion apart from time spent on the sphere.
Arthur Smith and Rodgers is an entire different story. They must get comfy with one another to keep away from any stress, like what was reportedly skilled between Smith and Russell Wilson final yr.
To not say that it’s unimaginable for everyone to get on the identical web page shortly. If that was the case, then you definitely wouldn’t have rookie quarterbacks making it to the NFC Championship Recreation like Jayden Daniels did final yr. However each apply Rodgers misses units the Steelers again by some small quantity. Add that up over the course of 9 practices between OTAs and minicamp, and it might be an additional sport or two within the common season earlier than they begin to click on.
Charlie Batch made the purpose {that a} continued delay in Rodgers’ resolution may imply Mason Rudolph will get a leg up on the long run Corridor of Famer. It gained’t be a contest if Rodgers indicators, however Batch’s level is sound in that Rudolph will probably be miles forward within the team-building course of.
Artwork Rooney II reportedly doubled down on his Rodgers timeline on the latest homeowners conferences. As he mentioned in early April, they’ll proceed to attend, however “not eternally.”
