The Steelers have given rookie tackle Mike Adams a clear path to the starting left tackle job, but he’s still going to have to prove he can handle the role this summer.
Adams had to navigate his first stumbling blocks this spring thanks to the NFL’s rule barring players from joining their drafted teams until after their schools have finished up their semester. Ohio State’s schedule left Adams, a second-round pick in April, stuck in Columbus during OTAs, meaning he had just the rookie and mandatory minicamps to work with the team before training camp starts at the end of the month.
“My coaches did a great job keeping us up with everything,” Adams said to Zac Jackson of FOXSportsOhio.com. “I had playbook the whole time, I had the film. I feel like I stayed up with things as best I could. As a rookie you’re always learning, so I definitely have work to do.”
The Steelers have enough confidence in Adams to avoid bringing back veteran tackle Max Starks this spring. It helps that Starks has been rehabbing a torn ACL, but the only current insurance policy on the roster is Jonathan Scott. Scott isn’t a particularly appealing choice, though, so Starks will likely remain a talking point until Adams proves he has the job locked down.
Guard David DeCastro, the team’s first-round pick, is also positioned for a starting job and he also missed OTAs because of the semester rule. That means there will be a lot of attention paid to how quickly the Steelers rookies are catching up this summer.