Steelers Daily News & Links: AB Blasts Coach, QB Talk

Steelers Daily News & Links: Your daily stop for all of the news and links from the Pittsburgh Steelers, NFL and around the Sports Now Group.

🏈 The Simpsons NFL account on X account recapped every NFL teams season in a Simpsons clip. The one for the Pittsburgh Steelers was spot-on.

Yep that’s the Simpsons clip that resembles #Steelers fans https://t.co/7q13WruaYi

— Christopher Carter (@CarterCritiques) February 18, 2024

🏈 Warren Sharp of Sharp Football doesn’t understand the negativity surrounding the hire of Arthur Smith as the Steelers new offensive coordinator. Smith really can’t do much worse than his predecessors.

“I don’t get fans thinking the Steelers offense is going to regress with Arthur Smith as OC,” Sharp wrote. “Acting as if there’s been a flawless brain trust of play calling in Pittsburgh, forgetting the OC history has been: 2023: Matt Canada, 2022: Matt Canada, 2021: Matt Canada, 2020: Randy Fichtner, 2019: Randy Fichtner, 2018: Randy Fichtner.”

🏈 As a guest on the North Catholic Athletic Podcast, former Pittsburgh general manager Kevin Colbert talked about how “Mean” Joe Greene taught him about greatness.

“Joe Greene taught me that. Joe Greene was on our coaching staff after he retired and [finished] coaching. He said ‘You want to be great? Do it again,'” Colbert said.

🏈 Antonio Brown called out new Steelers wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni for “using his name for jobs and lying.” Azzanni was AB’s wide receivers coach at Central Michigan. It’s not clear why Brown has beef with Azzanni, but he’s not the first or last person to ruffle the emotions of the former star wide receiver.

🏈 ESPN put together its tier list for all 32 NFL teams and what tier they are in toward being a Super Bowl contender. They went with nine different tiers, and the Steelers were grouped with teams like the Atlanta Falcons, Denver Broncos, New England Patriots and Washington Commanders as teams who are in quarterback purgatory.

“Is there a more ‘we’re a quarterback away’ team than Pittsburgh?” ESPN wrote. ‘The Steelers have just about everything they need, from ample skill players to an improving offensive line and three legitimate, game-changing stars on defense. A quarterback can tie it all together. At the very least, the Steelers will apply pressure on incumbent Kenny Pickett with a quarterback acquisition via trade or free agency. Here’s to forecasting that the addition is more than a stopgap, and the Justin Fields-Mike Tomlin noise is growing, with ESPN’s Adam Schefter pointing out that Tomlin is a big fan of Fields. The call on the fifth-year option of Najee Harris is a tough one that could go either way. The Steelers can save $10 million on the cap with a release of wide receiver Allen Robinson II.”

🏈 Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth revealed on The Pocket podcast that he’s currently enrolled at Penn State to finish his degree.

“I promised my mom I’d get my degree, so I’m excited to see the smile on her face when I get it,” Freiermuth said.

🏈 Steelers outside linebacker Alex Highsmith joined the elite pass rushers group in 2023 with an overall Pro Football Focus grade of 90.2.

Alex Highsmith has joined the elite pass rushers in 2023 📈 pic.twitter.com/oEZk5Uy5Dq

— PFF PIT Steelers (@PFF_Steelers) February 19, 2024

🏈 Longtime NFL writer Peter King reacted to Gerry Dulac’s report that the Steelers are not interested in bringing in a quarterback who wants to be a starter. King sees it as a colossal misjudgement by the Steelers.

“Longtime beat man on the team Gerry Dulac reported the other day that the Steelers ‘are not interested in bringing in a quarterback who wants to be a starter.’ Come again? In a division with Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson and Deshaun Watson, the Steelers would actually choose to enter camp with Kenny Pickett and Mason Rudolph (should he sign in free agency with Pittsburgh)? That sounds like a colossal misjudgment of your quarterback position,” King wrote.

🎂 Happy Birthday to former Steelers cornerback and special teams ace Chidi Iwuoma, born on February 19, 1978 in Los Angeles, California. Iwuoma primarily played on special teams while with the Steelers from 2002-2006. He earned a Super Bowl ring with the Steelers following the 2005 season. Iwuoma was elected the special teams co-captain for two consecutive seasons. In May of 2013, Iwuoma joined the Steelers as their designated BLESTO scout.

🎥 Steelers cornerback Patrick Peterson gave an incredibly awkward and cryptic answer on the Steelers quarterback situation.

Have you seen this yet? On the very good All Things Covered Podcast. An incredibly awkward and cryptic answer on the Steelers QB situation. From future Hall of Famer Patrick Peterson. Watch this. What do you think it means? pic.twitter.com/7l34hT8kul

— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) February 17, 2024

NEWS FROM AROUND THE SPORTS NOW NETWORK

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Jaromir Jagr saw his Pittsburgh Penguins jersey go to the rafters on Sunday.

Pittsburgh Baseball Now: A healthy Andrew McCutchen has reported for Pittsburgh Pirates spring training.

Pittsburgh Sports Now: Pitt cornerback M.J. Devonshire is shining in his pre-draft build-up.

West Virginia Sports Now: West Virginia basketball is now in last place in the Big 12.

Nittany Sports Now: Penn State wrestling earned another win over Nebraska.

Pittsburgh Soccer Now: The Pittsburgh Riverhounds lost to West Virginia, 2-0, in a preseason match.