Roethlisberger excited to work with young group of Steelers receivers

[polamalubeast]

No family vacations are planned for the rest of Ben Roethlisberger’s spring.

As he enters his 16th NFL season, the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback expects to be a regular participant at organized team activities, a departure from 2018 when he showed up to UMPC Rooney Sports Complex for the first voluntary workout and then skipped seven before returning for the final two.

With Roethlisberger minus his favorite target and the only receiver in NFL history to record six consecutive 100-catch seasons, he has new receivers – and their tendencies – to learn. That process began Tuesday and will continue nine more times until a three-day mandatory minicamp begins in mid-June.

“I plan on it,” Roethlisberger said when asked whether he plans to attend the rest of OTAs. “I think it’s important with young guys, with new guys to make sure that we are all on the same page and figuring out exactly what we need to win football games.”

The Steelers didn’t win enough of them last year, finishing 9-6-1 despite Roethlisberger leading the NFL in passing yards. The offense will have a new look this year. The trade that sent seven-time Pro Bowl selection Antonio Brown to the Oakland Raiders led to the Steelers signing Donte Moncrief in free agency and taking Toledo’s Diontae Johnson in the third round of the NFL Draft.

The trade also elevated JuJu Smith-Schuster, entering just his third season, into the No. 1 receiver’s role and gives second-year player James Washington a chance to winning the other starting job. In fact, the turnover has been so great at wide receiver that Smith-Schuster and Eli Rogers are the only holdovers from the 2017 OTAs.

“It’s pretty important,” Roethlisberger said about developing chemistry with his receivers. “Whether it’s young guys or rookies or whether it’s guy we brought in from other teams, it definitely is a new kind of challenge. That’s what makes it fun, too. You love the challenge, you love working with the guys, you love communicating.

“That’ll be the biggest think, I think, is communication and talking to guys, telling them exactly what I’m thinking and asking them. Like today, with (Moncrief), a couple of times I was asking him, ‘Did you feel good about your depth? And just working a couple different things out. It’s definitely going to take some big focus.”

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https://triblive.com/sports/roethlis...ers-receivers/

[Method28]

I'm excited to see what Moncrief can bring. Those slants over the middle of the field could be pretty exciting for Moncrief.
I feel he's been the forgotten man this offseason

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