Mike McCarthy Stresses Importance Of Steelers’ Final Preseason Game: ‘Have To Look At It That Way’

A lot of Steelers fans and reporters seem tired of the preseason already, but Mike McCarthy certainly doesn’t feel that way. For him, the final game plays an absolutely critical role in the roster-building process. And not necessarily just for this year, but in fact for years to come.

“Let’s be honest, the depth of your football team is something that really comes out of this third game”, McCarthy said ahead of the concluding preseason contest, via the Steelers’ website. “That’s been my personal experience, and I think it’ll probably hold true once we get to Friday”.

Many teams use the final preseason game to showcase their young and fringe players, and I’m sure McCarthy and the Steelers will be no different in that regard. And this year, they do seem to have an inordinate number of decisions to make. It will be a big game, for example, for rookie seventh-round pick Robert Spears-Jennings. He has stated a strong case to make the roster, but he can ensure it with an emphatic closing statement.

Now, there are probably not a ton of Hall of Famers who had to make a 53-man roster in a final preseason game. There are some, no doubt, but that’s not the point. Mike McCarthy likes to tell the story about how the 2010 Packers needed 77 players to get through that season, which ended with a Super Bowl win over the Steelers. So if they can determine their best Rolodex of talent in the final preseason game, he is going to take every advantage of that opportunity.

“Guys step up in that last game and you go, ‘Whoa’, and it makes those decisions after the game even harder”, McCarthy said. “And harder is not, maybe, did they make the 53[-man roster] or the 68 [including the practice squad. Maybe he’s 69, 70, 71. So that’s the way I look at it”.

McCarthy stressed how much value he places on the time spent with all of the players on the Steelers’ roster, going back to the spring through the end of the preseason. “These guys might not play for us this year, but you never know with the offseason, so you have to look at it that way because you have to develop your younger players”.

He stressed the importance of “draft and development”, including college free agents. One such player emerging for the Steelers during this preseason is Devan Boykin, who had a strong showing in the first game. One first-year player stepping up is Doneiko Slaughter, taking advantage of injuries in the secondary. While both appear outside the roster bubble, they could make the practice squad. And as we see year in and year out, some of those players will play in the regular season.

The Steelers have one more preseason game to determine not just their best 53-man roster, or even their practice squad, but to evaluate every player on the roster and how that will inform their potential future relationship. It doesn’t end just because they waive a player. You never know when he might circle back. Mike McCarthy has brought in players he previously worked with in Dallas, and even Green Bay. Mike Tomlin highly valued even pre-draft relationships with players. The NFL is a business, but it’s also a business of relationships. This is a part of that, and the final audition is in the Steelers’ final preseason game on Thursday.