![\"High](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/img_9547.jpeg\" "\\"High")
<\/p>\nHey, look! There’s DK Metcalf!<\/p>\n
Couldn’t help but catch myself, maybe for the millionth time, marveling not just at his Herculean stature for a human, let alone a wide receiver, but also at … man, he’s really here. They really went out and got this guy.<\/p>\n
It was much of the same most of this sunny Wednesday morning\/afternoon at Saint Vincent College, where the Steelers’ players were reporting into the fold for the training camp that begins in earnest Thursday with the first practice, as they’d stream down a narrow road or stroll down a grass hill toward the dorms: Jalen Ramsey. Jonnu Smith. Darius Slay. And unseen at that media access point but no less present: Aaron Rodgers.<\/p>\n
It was a who’s who of who’s for-real here.<\/p>\n
“I’d say I’m excited and curious,” Omar Khan, architect of this unintended or not all-star list of names, would say here later in the day. “You know, a lot of thought goes into every one of these decisions. It’s not just, ‘Hey, this guy’s available, let’s trade for him.’ “<\/p>\n
Nope. We’ve seen that. There’s been patience. There’s been prudence. But also, once the appropriate prey’s been in sight, Khan’s pounced like a viper.<\/p>\n
“So, you know, I’m like everyone else,” he’d continue. “I’m in this role, but I’m excited to watch these guys perform on the field and see how our team comes together. And obviously, we have expectations for ourselves. We’re just going to do our best and try to get better every day.”<\/p>\n
That’s fun. All of this is. Fascinating, too. And I’m not going to lie: Watching them all flock together for the first time really made a lot of stuff make more sense for me than ever.<\/p>\n
And just in case it didn’t for anyone else …<\/p>\n
“I’m standing at this podium on the first day of training camp,” Mike Tomlin would respond to a question about the Steelers’ future beyond the 2025 NFL season. “Man, I am not looking beyond the here and now.”<\/p>\n
Right. Usual stance. Albeit with a loftier than usual weightiness to it.<\/p>\n
But want to know what’s funny?<\/p>\n
It’ll all still come down to the same storyline that’s underpinned — and overwhelmed — this franchise for half a decade now.<\/p>\n
Uh-huh. That.<\/p>\n
So when Tomlin rolled out one of this reporting-day staples in rattling off any surprise injuries or absences, naturally, the one name he’d cite would be that of Isaac Seumalo.<\/p>\n
“Soft tissue injury,” he’d semi-elaborate. “Could slow him at the early portions.”<\/p>\n
Uh-huh.<\/p>\n
Look, I didn’t drive all the way out here to be the dullard who can’t appreciate the scene. Especially not when it’s a scene this singularly stunning, no matter how many years it’s seen:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
DEJAN KOVACEVIC \/ DKPS<\/p>\n
High atop the Saint Vincent College campus, Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n
But let’s not pretend for a split-second that any of the above matters in the slightest without at least a semblance of a competent offensive line. And any injury to Seumalo, who’ll turn 32 by Halloween and represents pretty much the totality of this line’s experience … yeah, no.<\/p>\n
By sheer chance, I’d spent part of my afternoon with Spencer Anderson, who’ll take his reps at left guard for as long as it takes, and asked about the state of the line as a whole:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
“I feel like we’re in a good spot,” Anderson would say, and this was before Tomlin announced Seumalo’s injury. “Obviously, we brought back a majority of the guys we had last year. We have some younger guys and … “<\/p>\n
He laughed slightly.<\/p>\n
“I know we say young, but Mason’s older\u00a0than me.”<\/p>\n
Mason McCormick, of course. The right guard. Except that McCormick, who’s 25 but only a month older, started as a rookie last season, and Anderson’s been a backup through both of his NFL seasons but for four starts in 2024.<\/p>\n
“But I feel like we’re in a good spot,” he’d repeat. “I do.”<\/p>\n
He’d better be right. Or, again, it’ll all go kablooey.<\/p>\n
Broderick Jones needs to overcome all that ailed him as a classic sophomore-slump case. He’s back at left tackle, which he insists will have him more comfortable. He’s also a little lighter here, maybe 20 pounds, which he feels will help him sustain blocks. But we won’t begin to know that until pads are donned early next week. If he’s no different … well, it’ll be obvious why I’ve long labeled him the entire roster’s swing vote.<\/p>\n
Troy Fautanu, the other tackle and another first-round, high-pedigree type, missed all but one game of his rookie season to knee surgery. He was awesome in that game out in Denver — 55 snaps, highest rating from Pro Football Focus of any player at any position — but that won’t amount to anything in the present.<\/p>\n
To that …<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s 100 percent,” Fautanu would say of the knee, reiterating a summer-long refrain. “I\u2019ve been looking forward to this for a really long time. I\u2019m just super excited to be back out here, be able to play football again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Terrific kid. Tantalizing potential. But don’t make me say the rest.<\/p>\n
Zach Frazier’s\u00a0well into a crash course on becoming the franchise’s next excellent center, following a rookie season in which some already saw him as a top-10 at the position in the league. One would think that’s steady, but then, Jones gave off a somewhat similar air as a rookie.<\/p>\n