The 5 most interesting storylines to follow throughout Steelers training camp

The Pittsburgh Steelers head to training camp this week, and there will be no shortage of action to follow as it unfolds. I’ll make my annual pilgrimage to Latrobe next week to see it all in person. In the meantime, here are the five storylines I’m most interesting in tracking as camp gets underway:

5. How is Calvin Austin III progressing?

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Arthur Smith does not need elite wide receiver talent for his offense to succeed. That’s why the Steelers acquired Jonnu Smith in the Minkah Fitzpatrick trade. A high-performing second tight end is more valuable to Smith than a high-end second wide receiver. Smith wants to pound the football in the run game, use his tight ends in the play-action passing game, and feature one elite receiver — A.J. Brown in Tennessee, Drake London in Atlanta, George Pickens and now DK Metcalf in Pittsburgh — to whom he can direct the bulk of his perimeter passing targets.

That’s all well and good. But as we saw with last season’s offense, the lack of an established WR2 can hamstring the passing game. Not a star, mind you, but someone who can win one-on-one at the professional level, or who can make a defense pay when it spends its resources elsewhere. Van Jefferson was not that guy, nor was Mike Williams in the limited opportunities he received. This season, barring a late move for a veteran, Calvin Austin III is in line to man that role. Austin showed some flashes last year in his first full season after missing his rookie campaign with an injury. He caught 36 passes for 548 yards and four touchdowns. Most of that work was done from the slot, however, where he was often matched up against an opponent’s third-best corner, or at times a safety. This year, in moving outside, Austin will draw better defenders and will run a more developed route tree.

Can he do it? The answer had better be yes, because the Steelers are thin on options beyond him. There are still some big names to be had in the free agent market if Austin can’t cut it, but most are past their prime or come with injury history. Whether Austin can emerge as a legitimate compliment to Metcalf is a huge storyline to follow.

4. Who fills the considerable shoes of Fitzpatrick?

Browns’ head coach Kevin Stefanski told me when I interviewed him last week for my “Call Sheet Daily” podcast that he was not sorry to see Fitzpatrick leave the division. The range and instincts Fitzpatrick possessed, Stefanski said, made throwing the ball down the field against Pittsburgh’s three-deep scheme almost impossible. Will opposing offenses feel differently now that Fitzpatrick is in Miami?

That depends on who steps into his shoes. Early on, I’d expect free agent signee Juan Thornhill to take reps there. Thornhill had a rough 2024 season in Cleveland, but otherwise has been a solid free safety throughout his career. Look for Jalen Ramsey to get reps in that role as well. Ramsey has logged just under 200 snaps at free safety in his NFL career, but he did play there some in college, and his range and nose for the football make him a strong candidate for the role.

I won’t be shocked if we see Ramsey take over the deep-third duties at some point this season, although that could be later than sooner given the time he may need to acclimate. Whether it’s Ramsey, Thornhill, or someone else, replacing Fitzpatrick’s presence, if not his production, will be huge.

3. Can Broderick Jones master the switch from right to left tackle?

When I filed my report from training camp last season, one of the most concerning notes involved the conditioning of Jones, the then-second-year tackle from Georgia. Jones was wearing the equivalent of a training camp fat suit — a long-sleeve compression shirt and ankle-length leggings — on an August day where the temperature in Latrobe reached 95 degrees. That spoke to Jones’s conditioning — or lack thereof — entering the season. Things didn’t get much better from there, as Jones suffered through a rough sophomore campaign. Jones was among the league leaders in sacks allowed, and his PFF rating dropped considerably from his rookie year.

This year, Jones has flipped sides, moving from right tackle to the left side, where he played in college. Returning to his natural position should bring a comfort level, but it will also pit him against the league’s best pass rushers on a weekly basis. Jones will be tasked with protecting the blind side of a 41-year-old quarterback who, while still fairly mobile, is by no means Lamar Jackson in the pocket. Keeping Aaron Rodgers clean will be one of the most important duties assigned to any player in a Steelers uniform this season. Can Jones do it? We’ll find out soon enough.

2. Can Derrick Harmon be an impact player as a rookie?

The Steelers were gutted like a fish in their playoff loss to Baltimore in January, surrendering 300 rushing yards on defense (299 officially, but that was only after Jackson took a knee and lost a yard on the game’s final play). The defensive front didn’t hold up, plain and simple, and the Steelers made it a priority to upgrade the unit this off-season.

They let veteran Larry Ogunjobi walk in free agency, which was a wise move considering Ogunjobi’s production no longer matched his salary. Then they signed free agent Daniel Ekuale from New England. Ekuale started 16 games for the Patriots last season and was quietly efficient. He should be a nice depth piece and an upgrade in their rotation over the likes of Ogunjobi and Montravious Adams.

The major move up front, however, was the selection of Harmon with the team’s top overall pick in April’s draft. Harmon, at 6’5-312 pounds, is big and long. He uses his hands exceptionally well and is excellent at striking and shedding blockers. Harmon is a penetrator who can beat blocks and get into the offensive backfield. He plays too high at times, and could be vulnerable to getting moved off of the football on double teams. But if the Steelers can smooth out that rough edge in his game, he could be an immediate impact player.

1. Duh. Aaron Rodgers.

Anyone who tells you Rodgers isn’t the most interesting or important storyline of this training camp is cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. It’s not just the name or the personality or the intrigue that matters. It’s the practicality. The Steelers haven’t had solid quarterback play on a consistent basis since 2020, which was the second-to-last season of Ben Roethlisberger’s career. They’ve been wandering the quarterback wilderness ever since, seeking a worthy heir.

We know Rodgers isn’t it, at least for the long-term. He’s signed to a one-year deal and has stated publicly that this will be his final season. But, with a loaded roster, a bevy of big-name veterans and a sense that Pittsburgh is all-in to at minimum end their eight-year post-season victory drought, getting one more year of solid QB play from Rodgers is paramount.

I don’t know what his training camp workload will look like. I don’t know if he’ll play more than a series or two in Pittsburgh’s pre-season games. But I do know this: all eyes in Latrobe will be on #8. There is no player on Pittsburgh’s roster on whom the success of this season hinges more upon, which means every throw he makes in training camp, every rep he takes, will be devoured, analyzed, and ultimately reacted to. Rodgers has been fairly subdued since signing with the Steelers, and has shown no signs yet of bringing a circus to town. At Latrobe, however, the circus will come to him.

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