WESA Talking Steelers: It doesn't count, but it's still football

And the 2024 NFL season is already here. The Pittsburgh Steelers begin their adventure on Friday evening at 7 p.m. against the Houston Texans.

Since pre-season games do not appear in the table, what should fans pay attention to?

Jim Wexell writes for 247Sports.com and has covered the Steelers since 1995. He has also served as host of WESA's “All Things Considered” with Jeremy Scott.

Jeremy Scott: Jim, the biggest story this offseason has been the movement at the quarterback position. First, they signed former Russell Wilson, only to later acquire former first-round pick Justin Fields. Wilson is now widely viewed as a Week 1 starter, but head coach Mike Tomlin has announced he will not play as he is still recovering from a calf injury. So if Fields is likely to start, are there any specific mechanics of Fields' that you will be keeping an eye on?

Jim Wexell: Now, I'm not a game mechanics expert, I'm not a quarterback guru, but his game mechanics, his foot game. People tell me it was really bad last year in Chicago, and people tell me it's improving a lot right now. And it coincides with his improvements as a passer in camp that I've seen. So it's something to keep an eye on. And I talked to Justin. He said yeah, he's been working on it and he's getting better. And I said, what quarterback coach is doing that? The OC Arthur Smith, the quarterback coach? And he said, my personal trainer. So his personal quarterback coach, he's apparently been working with him more intensely, more strenuously, more detailed. So people say it looks better, and I buy it because he's actually looking like a better quarterback as camp has gone on.

George Pickens is pretty firmly established as the No. 1 wide receiver in the rankings now. But outside of Pickens, the position is a big question mark. So while we wait to see who lines up on the other side of Pickens, what factors should we keep an eye on among the receivers and anyone not named George Pickens?

Well, you know, the rumors are heating up around Brandon Aiyuk, and apparently the Steelers are interested and talking, but nothing yet. As far as what they have in camp, Van Jefferson looks like the man. Van the man. He looks like a decent number two, a number two to win with. So, he's the man. Scotty Miller is getting more attention. He was highlighted by Mike Tomlin at his press conference. So I think they like what he does. He's a tough little guy who plays in the slot, returns punts, and he's a legitimate 4.34 guy. So he's got real speed.

Preseason plays are usually pretty boring since teams don't want to capture much on video. But tonight is offensive coordinator Arthur Smith's debut with the Steelers, and last year's offense was pretty painful to watch at times. So could we see a little more flashy action tonight if Smith wants to make a statement that the offense has something exciting this year?

Oh, that's an interesting way to look at it. I hadn't thought of that. I don't know if he needs to generate interest. I think he's more of a back-to-basics guy. He's going to do what he needs to do. And I don't know if that includes the glitz and glamour or not, but I think you'll see the fundamentals. Two tight ends, two running backs, a lot of fullbacks, three tight ends, things like that. But also, you know, throwing a deep ball. You know, Wilson isn't going to be a quarterback. Fields, it sounds like he's not going to play that much. So now you're getting to the stuff, you know, that's not so appetizing. Kyle Allen. And fourth, the camp arm. John Rhys Plumlee. Yeah. I like Plumlee's bite. Kyle Allen is getting tiring to watch in practice.

As for defense, basically none of the stars will play. Coach Tomlin said TJ Watt, Cameron Hayward and Minkah Fitzpatrick all won't play. And the Steelers' high-paid free agency signing this offseason, linebacker Patrick Queen, will also be inactive. So what can we look forward to and expect from this side?

So, I want to see some Donte Jackson. I want to see some DeShon Eliott. New guys. I want to see Payton Wilson, the coverage linebacker. I'm not really impressed with Payton Wilson's physicality, so I want to see some of that. Good coverage linebacker. But, you know, when people hear he won the Butkus Award, he won the Bednarik Award, he's having a great training camp. You're not going to see any impact in the run game like Patrick Queen and Elandon Roberts. I'd like to see some of that. That's what I expect from the rookie Payton Wilson. On the defensive line, you're going to see guys like Logan Lee. Obviously, Keeanu Benton. I don't know if he's even going to play that much, but Logan Lee is a rookie. You know, [Isaiah] Loudermilk and a lot of other names that we've seen all along. And there's really nobody above Logan Lee, so I want to see him. The two outside linebackers and, you know, further down the line, we'll see some guys in the fourth quarter battling for practice squad time that I'm interested in. But most of them won't be interested.

Special teams are rarely talked about unless someone makes or misses a game-winning kick. But interestingly, the NFL has introduced some new kickoff rules for the season. Can you briefly summarize them?

Yeah. The kickoff will be in the regular spot, but the kick coverage guys running to the tackle will be put on the other side of the field. They can't move until the ball is either caught or ends up inside the 20. So that's going to be a smaller margin. And potentially better returns as well. So you get more explosiveness, more fun, but theoretically with that comes safety. So I think you're going to see more running back type kick returners. I think that's where Cordarrelle Patterson will be very interesting. Jaylen Warren. But in this game, I think you're going to see La'Mical Perine. Number 38, 220-pound back who was really impressive, Jonathan Ward. Those are a couple of running backs that are under the radar, really still underdogs no matter how good they are. There really aren't a lot of open spots for them unless they keep Cordarrelle Patterson on the injured list and slide one of those guys in as a third back. But those are the guys I see as kick returners. Bigger, bigger, stronger kick returners.