With the 2024 NFL Draft officially in the rearview, the Steelers now have a prove-it season squarely in their sights.
Speaking to NFL Network’s Peter Schrager on Day 3 of this weekend's spectacle, head coach Mike Tomlin shared his encouragement with the team's overall outlook -- starting with his new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith and quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Justin Fields on down the rest of the roster.
"It's going really well," Tomlin said about Smith and the QBs. "All three guys, to be really transparent, are somewhat scalded. They got something to prove professionally. But we as a collective feel the same way. We have something to prove, and I just think that is a good frame of mind to be in as individuals and as a collective as we prepare ourselves for the 2024 season. It's not fun to relocate or get fired or things of that nature. But as competitors, it always motivates us in the right way, and I'm excited about working with the men that you mentioned. And we as a collective have got some questions to answer, so I'm excited about that, as well."
The team hired Arthur Smith after his 21-30 record in three seasons as the Falcons' head coach saw him temporarily unemployed. His offenses averaged a 22nd-place ranking in points in Atlanta, but he guided the Tennessee Titans to a top-10 finish in both 2019 and 2020 as a coordinator.
Tomlin is looking for him to prove he's still the coach who accomplished those numbers, just as he's excited by Wilson and Fields looking to rewrite the castoff narrative that brought them to the Steel City.
Wilson, in pole position to be Pittsburgh's QB1, saw a downturn in two seasons with the Broncos while failing to live up to his high-profile trade from Seattle, while Fields just watched his former Bears select his replacement, Caleb Williams, a month and a half after they signaled the decision by trading him away.
All three fit in on a team that's desperate for a breakthrough after finishing third in its division last year despite a 10-win season and seeing three of the last four years end in a wild-card exit.
And Pittsburgh spent the weekend adding more pieces to better help them foster that success.
The Steelers used three picks in the first four rounds on offensive line talent, selecting Washington's Troy Fautana at No. 20 overall, West Virginia's Zach Frazier at No. 51 and South Dakota State's Mason McCormick with No. 119. They provided the offense another playmaker with their third-round pick (No. 84) on Michigan wide receiver Roman Wilson.
They then got another Wilson 14 picks after the first by stopping NC State linebacker Payton Wilson's slide at No. 98.
Each of those five draftees, according to Daniel Jeremiah's top 150 prospects, came at a value for Pittsburgh, the greatest of which being Payton Wilson with a 57-slot difference.
If any of them feel slighted, it only furthers Tomlin's narrative of a team on a mission -- one that involves upending the brutal AFC North and then traveling beyond the playoff's initial slate of games for the first time since 2017.
