This always hits me during Labor Day weekend.
This time of year, when I get out and about trying to soak in the last free weekend on my calendar until mid-February, I get the same question over and over:
“Are you ready for football season?”
Well, of course I am. What do you think I’d prefer? Another month of boring practices and crafting columns about why Paul Skenes’ velocity has dropped two miles per hour?
(Psst, I may bang out one or two more of those before the Pirates are done, by the way.)
But it ain’t me yinz gotz to worry abaht. My typing fingers never got out of shape.
It’s your team. Are they ready? That should be your primary concern.
As I assume it is.
Are the 2026 Steelers ready after an entire coaching staff upheaval for the first time in almost two decades?
Are they ready after all those tedious, arduous, sweaty practices on the Southside and at Saint Vincent College? Is Mike McCarthy’s first Steelers squad a game-ready product or not?
“I think we’ve done a very good job of putting together a very competitive training camp with the 90-man roster. I’m very happy with the way we were able to keep 68 — technically 75 players — here in the building. So that’s the big picture,” McCarthy said. “But now you hit the reality. It’s time to play a game. I think we’ve hit the target as far as transitioning from scheme development to the installation phase. Now it’s time to play games.”
That first game is Sunday at Acrisure Stadium against the Atlanta Falcons. That’s another team that went through a coaching change during the offseason. Kevin Stefanski took over for Raheem Morris. They were 8-9 a year ago.
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While finishing his previous statement, McCarthy did identify one area of concern: the offensive line. Specifically, the still-undetermined right tackle position battle between Dylan Cook and Max Iheanachor.
“You’re still trying to lock in at the first five, and I feel really good about Dylan,” McCarthy said of his current starter. “We’re in a good spot, but we’ve got a full week of practice ahead.”
Neither Cook nor Iheanachor nor the rest of the first-team offensive line thrived when given the chance to play in the preseason. And the second team may have been worse.
So, yeah. That suggests this team isn’t entirely ready to kick off 2026.
As for the rest of the skill-position players on offense, there’s almost no indication of how ready any of them are based on the preseason because so few saw any game action. Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf, Michael Pittman Jr., Pat Freiermuth, Jaylen Warren, Rico Dowdle and Darnell Washington barely played in August.
“The last two weeks we’ve had really great work,” offensive coordinator Brian Angelichio said. “Having (Pittman Jr.) out there running, everybody back healthy, it’s been good. I think we’re in a good spot.”
That optimism from Angelichio is based on theory and hope at this point. There’s no game evidence to go on.
That said, there’s no indication those guys are going to bust either, whereas there might be reason for concern about that up front.
Defensively, red flags are everywhere around the Steelers’ secondary. On Monday, McCarthy said Joey Porter Jr. is still in the “ramp-up” phase. That’s if he decides to play at all, given his nebulous contract situation.
DeShon Elliott is injured. Jalen Ramsey wasn’t activated until after the preseason. Jamel Dean, Jaquan Brisker, Robert Spears-Jennings, Daylen Everette and Rayshawn Jenkins are all new to the team.
I asked defensive coordinator Patrick Graham if that might cause him to lean into playmaking from the front-seven early in the season.
“I’m more of a front guy,” Graham said. “Everything for me in my career has been mostly front-driven. So, I would think it’s a safe bet to think that I’m going to lean into it a little bit more.”
Graham insisted that’s easier to do based on the resume of some of the players he is coaching.
“When you have players up front such as T.J. (Watt) and Cam (Heyward) as leaders, in terms of just what they’ve done over their career and how hungry they are. I’m amazed at some of the stuff they do in practice, just the way they go about their business, the way they talk football. Naturally, when you have that much experience performing at a high level, I’m going to lean into that.”
That level certainly could’ve been higher in 2025. The Steelers were 26th in yards per game allowed at 356.9 and were 29th against the pass at 243.9. So maybe those resumes aren’t as sparkling as they once were.
Even the special teams are a question from the outside. Then again, coordinator Danny Crossman says that’s not unique to these Steelers.
“It’s like it is every year,” Crossman said. “Still putting everything together and where everybody is around the league — including ourselves — working the matchups and the thinking of what you’re going to get from whom. That process is never-ending, but it’s always a little bit enhanced in the first game.”
So are the Steelers ready?
Ready as they’ll ever be, I guess.
Which is why you should expect nine or 10 wins again, and maybe a first-round playoff game.
But not much else.
