4 Things We've Learned from Pittsburgh Steelers' OTAs and Minicamp

At the very least, this means we're that much closer to these guys actually taking the field.
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It's that optimistic time of year—the time when OTAs and minicamps have wrapped, training camps loom and every player looks in better shape than he did the year before and every team looks primed for a Super Bowl run.

For the Pittsburgh Steelers, this optimism is generally more than the usual hyperbole—they're perennial Super Bowl contenders with high expectations season after season.

Though there's much ado about nothing happening all around the NFL right now regarding what went down in the past month's activities, there are kernels of truth among them.

Here, I break down four things we learned about the Steelers' offseason based on what happened at OTAs and minicamp.

Offensive Line Competition Is Most Certainly Ongoing

David DeCastro needs to earn his way onto the first-team offense.
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The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted offensive linemen back-to-back this year, taking guard David DeCastro and tackle Mike Adams in the first and second rounds.

But despite their draft positioning, there's no guarantees that either will win a starting job just yet.

At least, that's the message the team sent during OTAs and minicamp. Both DeCastro and Adams got significant snaps—with the second-team offense.

Though DeCastro is likely to beat out Ramon Foster for the starting right guard spot during training camp and Adams is a favorite to win the left tackle job, they're not being given the honor this early on in their NFL careers. 

It's a similar refrain you hear from many coaches about their rookies—the job isn't simply "handed" to someone because they were drafted early. And the Steelers are certainly walking that talk right now with DeCastro and Adams. 

Chris Rainey's Not on Any Roster Bubble

Chris Rainey can remain confident he'll still be in black and gold come September.
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For late-round draft picks, there are few guarantees.

Generally, players drafted in the fifth, sixth or seventh rounds have to work that much harder to earn a much-coveted roster spot.

Not so, it seems, for fifth-round hybrid running back/wide receiver Chris Rainey.

The newly minted Steeler has proven as fast as advertised in camp and is slated to play a pivotal, if limited, role on the offense this year.

Rainey's hybrid skills fall right in line with offensive coordinator Todd Haley's philosophy, and he adds a dimension of speed the Steelers have lacked at running back.

Other running backs may find themselves on the roster bubble this summer, but Rainey's not likely one of them.

Mike Wallace Will Be Playing Catch-Up

Regardless of how talented he is, Mike Wallace would be in a far better situation now with his new offense if he wasn't holding out for a new contract.
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Things are different for the Pittsburgh Steelers offense.

Gone is Bruce Arians, replaced by new offensive coordinator Todd Haley, so much of minicamp and OTAs has revolved around implementing the new offense, learning the terminology and all of the other tweaks that go along with making this sort of change.

That puts holdout wide receiver Mike Wallace at a disadvantage.

While there are fewer reasons to worry about Wallace than other receivers—the Steelers could simply say, "run fast and get open" once the season starts if he's behind on learning the playbook—it still isn't an ideal situation.

Wallace may have the playbook and he may be learning it on his own, but until he's on the practice field, receiving instruction from Haley and passes from Ben Roethlisberger, it's not the same.

For Wallace, once he returns, it will be square one, while other members of the offense are on squares five or six.

Ben Roethlisberger Isn't Ready to Change

Ben Roethlisberger takes hits—and he's fine with that.
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Ben Roethlisberger's issues (real or imagined) with Todd Haley's new playbook seem to be behind all of us, but he's not ready to completely tweak the way he plays his game.

Steelers team president Art Rooney II wants Roethlisberger to alter his playing style, to not scramble so much and not set himself up for potential injury, likely worried about protecting the very real investment that is a starting, Super Bowl-winning quarterback.

To some extent, Haley will likely bow to some of Rooney II's wishes, keeping Roethlisberger in the pocket and using more no-huddle to speed up the game and prevent hits.

Still, as far as Roethlisberger is concerned, he's not ready to make all that many changes just yet.

When asked about the requests and potential changes, Roethlisberger said he's not going to do much differently, adding he's going to play the game the "way [he] know[s] how." He also said that learning how to avoid hits isn't a priority.

This is a sign that there may be a bit of a power struggle still going on between the coaching staff, the front office and Roethlisberger.

Clearly, what Roethlisberger has learned in OTAs and minicamp hasn't convinced him yet that the change would be good for either him or the team. Let's see if this continues into training camp.

 

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