Steelers Daily News & Links: Warren Tops in Whiffs, Snoop Calls for Fresh Blood

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.

? Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jaylen Warren had the most missed tackles forced per attempt in the NFL this past season (0.35), according to Pro Football Focus.

? Longtime Steelers fan Snoop Dogg said on the Pat McAfee Show that the Steelers need some fresh blood on the coaching staff and some more “dawgs.”

? On this day 55 years ago, the Steelers hired Chuck Noll to become their new head coach. A reporter points out that the franchise has a history of failures. Noll responded, “We’ll change history.” The Steelers went on to win four Super Bowls in six years in the 1970s under Noll. Only Bill Belichick has more Super Bowl titles. Noll was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993.

Also on January 27 in Steelers History — Steelers founder Art Rooney Sr. was born in 1901, Ben Roethlisberger announced his retirement in 2022, and Terry Bradshaw (first overall) and Mel Blount (third round) were drafted by the Steelers in 1970.

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? Steelers second-year wide receiver George Pickens was among the NFL’s best in “dollars per yard” this past season. Pickens recorded 63 receptions for 1,140 receiving yards (18.1 average) and five receiving touchdowns in 2023. Pickens’ 1,158 total yards to $1,534,586 cap hit ratio in the 2023-24 season was good enough for the ninth-best mark among NFL receivers, with Pickens’ dollars-per-yard sitting at $1,419.

Pickens only ranks below receivers Josh Downs, Demario Douglas, Rashee Rice, Tank Dell, Rashid Shaheed, Nico Collins, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Puka Nacua (first place with only $515 per yard) in the metric. However, only Nacua, St. Brown, and Collins recorded more yards than Pickens in the 2023-24 season.

? Mason Rudolph said on Ramon Foster’s podcast that he had a good exit meeting with the Steelers.

“Yeah, it was good. Visited with Mike T. and Omar [Khan] both and it’s so early. I mean it’s like three or four days after we played our last game. So there’s a lot neither side of us knows. But I felt like they meant it when they said they’d like to have me back. I feel like they want to do business, future business with me. That’s good to hear, but there are so many variables and it’s still early. Who knows what will happen,” Rudolph shared.

Foster also asked Rudolph about free agency and the possibility of returning to Pittsburgh.

“I went through it last year,” said Rudolph. “I learned a lot. It was discouraging at times, but it was a good experience. I’m forever grateful for Mike and Omar bringing me back this past fall and giving me a chance to be ready, giving me a platform to keep myself sharp in the off chance and opportunity did come, and it did. They believed in me enough to bring me back to be part of the squad. I know I felt good playing in the games I played in and I’d love to do that again. I’m gonna try to put myself in a position, whether that be in Pittsburgh or elsewhere, to try to realize that again and accomplish that again.”

? Steelers History shared a throwback photo of Franco Harris and Jack Lambert at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983. Harris and Lambert posed with Steelers founder Art Rooney Sr.’s bust.

? Steelers.com posted a highlight reel of every touchdown from the Steelers’ 2023 season.

? Happy Birthday to punter Brad Wing, born on Jan. 27, 1991 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

The Steelers re-signed Brad Wing to their practice squad prior to the Wild Card Round game against the Buffalo Bills. He was with the team earlier in the season, punting for two games that Pressley Harvin III missed with a hamstring injury. Wing is currently a free agent, but the Steelers could re-sign him with Harvin’s future in doubt.

Wing was out of the NFL from 2018 until 2023, when the Steelers gave him a chance. He was initially on the team in 2014. Wing’s career took a significant sidetrack in 2018, when he was released by the New York Giants amid substance abuse problems.

Wing got himself clean, turned his life around and in 2023, returned to football, playing for Hines Ward’s San Antonio Brahmas in the XFL. Even though he was a team captain for the Brahmas and led the XFL in punting average, no one in the NFL wanted to take a chance on a 32-year-old punter with baggage.

But the Steelers gave him a tryout, the one team willing to let him show off where his game had developed in his time away from football. When Harvin suffered a hamstring injury, the Steelers called Wing back and gave him a second shot.

? Born on this day, Jan. 27, 1901 in Coulterville, Pa., Art Rooney Sr. was the founding owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers. In addition to owning the Steelers, Rooney was himself a successful minor-league baseball player, collegiate and semi-pro football player and boxer. He bought the semi-pro football team he played for, Hope Harvey, before founding the Steelers for a $2,500 franchise fee in 1933.

? The Pro Football Hall of Fame’s official account on X honored former Steelers wide receiver Lynn Swann on Friday. Swann was the MVP of Super Bowl X and the NFL’s Man of the Year in 1981. He was inducted into the PFHOF in 2001.

NEWS FROM AROUND THE SPORTS NOW NETWORK

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Pittsburgh Sports Now: Pitt wrestling was rocked, 31-6 to NC State to start ACC play.

West Virginia Sports Now: New WVU football Victor Cabral is getting started.

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Pittsburgh Soccer Now: Pitt grad Jackson Walti has signed with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds.