Tuesday 12 Qs: Gilbert, Ehrhoff, Pedro, Troy, Olli

Marcus Gilbert was inactive Sunday in Atlanta but should suit up for the Steelers this weekend. — GETTY

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

Welcome to Tuesday 12 Qs, our chat that will take place this week at 3 p.m., an hour later than usual. Sorry, had to allow for a doctor’s checkup scheduled for 12:45 p.m. I might be back by 2, but there’s a chance I won’t, and I don’t want to risk it.

The format is simple: Use the comments section below to submit an entry. No more than one per person, please. Submit early if you prefer, and I’ll pick from that batch to get rolling, then monitor new entries once we go live. All topics welcome, as always.

UPDATE 3 p.m.: Away we go …

Bridge: What the heck has Marcus Gilbert not done in his performance and preparation to not dictate a starting role over Mike Adams?

DK: Wow, way to start me off with an easy one!

Sorry, no idea.

I mean, Mike Tomlin did describe Gilbert’s injured ankle as not yet being ‘above the line’ at his press conference today, while at the same time saying he felt ‘positive’ about his return, while at the same time saying he wasn’t sure if Gilbert would hold his starting spot over Adams. So, one can take all of that, stir it in a pot, and still come up with nothing conclusive.

I’ll share what I know and feel from the locker room in Atlanta on Sunday: Gilbert was good to go. There’s no doubt in my mind on that count, and I’ll leave that part of it right there. This absolutely was a healthy player made inactive. Maybe not 100 percent healthy, but healthy enough that he at the very least could have been dressed as a backup.

So there’s more to this. It could be nothing more than Tomlin simply losing patience with the length of recovery from an injury, or complaining about an injury. Wouldn’t be the first time or last for that, and I’m betting it’s the case.

As delineated in the Steelers PATs yesterday, there’s no comparison in the performance levels of Gilbert and Adams. There’s nothing there that the eye can’t see. This team needs Gilbert on the field, especially if it’s going to shut down the Chiefs’ formidable defensive front and get Le’Veon Bell loose again.

Bruce Danoff: I believe Pedro Alvarez returning to 2013 form is crucial to the Pirates’ success in 2015. What have you heard lately about his work ethic, ability and desire to play first base? He is a Scott Boras client. I have to believe he is getting good counsel as to how to increase his value.

DK: I love this question, Bruce. I really do, and let me tell you why: Your faith in whether or not Alvarez can or will be a big part of what they do is rooted, at least partly, in whether or not his agent will be able to convince him to raise his dollar worth toward free agency two years from now.

That’s not a criticism. You’re not alone. I’m not even sure I disagree. But it’s powerfully telling that the cynicism regarding Alvarez has reached the proportion among Pittsburgh fans that we can look at a statement like yours and pretty much nod in agreement.

Anyway, to the actual question: You’ve never read me knocking Alvarez’s work ethic. He pouts, he keeps to himself, he has his own way and does his own thing, but you’ve never seen me write that he doesn’t work. He does. In the cases of blowing off winter ball in the past or even this year, when he could have done work toward becoming a big-league first baseman defensively, I’ve never attached that to work as much as that other stuff.

He has stated publicly he prefers to be a third baseman. He has told Neal Huntington — and Huntington reiterated at these past Winter Meetings — that he prefers to be a third baseman.

Well, he won’t be a third baseman. Not in Pittsburgh, and probably not anywhere.

So one of two things can happen from here:

1. Alvarez can keep pouting and be a lousy first baseman who hits .220 with 50 strikeouts for every home run.

2. Alvarez can report to Bradenton with head held high about a whole new opportunity to establish himself as a consistent performer at the plate and in the field.

Here’s hoping for the latter.

Oh, and don’t think this little verbal shove from A.J. Burnett on our site last week will go unheeded.

Mike: What are the chances that Troy Polamalu retires after the season? He looks like a shell of his former self and is missing tackles all over the place. How do you replace him and Ike Taylor (assuming he’s released) in the same offseason, with limited cap space and a QB that is due a huge raise?

DK: Those are multiple scenarios there, Mike, but to address the first: It wouldn’t surprise me. Really, it wouldn’t. Watching Polamalu blitz the QB eight times Sunday in Atlanta and not once come within Matt Ryan’s area code, that’s not even a shell of the Hall of Fame player he once was. And the same goes for his pass coverage and, to an extent, the tackling. He’ll still wrap up well at or near the line of scrimmage.

Polamalu has told me, and his noted agent, Marvin Demoff, once told me — this before Polamalu’s most recent extension — that Troy wouldn’t play past the point where he could be great. Well, he isn’t great. Some athletes can live with that and adjust. I don’t feel like Troy is one of those. You can see it’s frustrating for him. You can hear it.

Also, I saw another Q submitted about conditioning. Polamalu is actually in better shape than at any point in his career. That’s not what’s slowing him down. It’s all those countless times he launched himself like a human missile. We all loved it when we watched, but each one took its toll.

Replacing Polamalu and Taylor?

I see Shamarko Thomas and free agency as the only answers. Because I’m through predicting this will be the year the Steelers prioritize a corner in the draft.

Bob Maddamma: To what do you attribute Brandon Sutter’s emergence? This guy has it going on, lookng like the best player on the ice many nights. I was sorry to seen Jordan Staal go, and was happy with Sutter’s acquisition, but I never thought he would evolve into this.

DK: So glad you asked this, Bob. Just so happens I hung around in the Penguins’ room until after Sutter finished his many interviews to simply talk. Happens more often than you might think.

And since his part is off the record, I’ll share with you what I said to him: I mentioned some of the observations I shared with you guys in this October column dedicated to his ascent, how I saw him as someone who wasn’t going to be content with third-line status as a ceiling, how impressive it’s been that he’s never complained about that or his bazillion linemates. There was more, but I’ll leave it there.

Sutter is turning into something special. I’m not going to say he’s the next Jonathan Toews-level two-way sensation, but he’s a player capable of being recognized at an elite level for how he not only takes care of business but also adds creativity and aggressiveness to the mix.

I asked Mike Johnston about Sutter last night, too, and loved his answer: “The thing with Brandon is, he’s still not done. You can see he’s still growing offensively.”

DKS: I’ve heard and read for a long while about the Steelers’ defense being complicated and taking a long time for younger players to learn. With the need for younger players to be playing, either because of retirements, ineffectiveness of veteran starters or injuries, has the defense been simplified at all to help the younger players get up to speed faster and, if not, should that have happened earlier, really going back to training camp? Wouldn’t that be a reflection of Dick LeBeau’s flexibility?

DK: There’s been no indication of any slowing down of the playbook or learning curve. None. Zero. Tomlin himself attested to that two weeks ago.

I happen to share your view: Younger players need to get on the field.

I take Stephon Tuitt as a prime example. His natural athleticism and aggressiveness are easy to see. And he’s especially easy to notice on the pass rush. But game after game, his grade on run defense is low, even after this past one. Now, one could suggest he needs to get better in that regard, and it would be fair. But it’s also fair to wonder what percentage of that could be a lack of awareness of where he’s supposed to be in a given scheme or situation.

To me, if you have a Tuitt and aren’t turning him loose because a guy like Cam Thomas understands your Xs and Os, something is seriously amiss. Let the players play.

Now, that said, for full context, Tomlin also made it clear today that he’s leaning toward Jarvis Jones over Arthur Moats for the Chiefs game. Jones has one more year with LeBeau’s playbook, but Moats has far more NFL experience. So it isn’t always about age.

Benjamin Croft: If we were looking to deal Evgeni Malkin, what would we expect in return? Would you be happy with a couple top prospects? Absolutely not.

To get Taylor Hall or Evander Kane, we would need to give up WAAAAAAY more than prospects. Probably more along the lines of Derrick Pouliot, Chris Kunitz and a third-round pick just to get in the conversation.

DK: Sorry, Ben, I’m not a fake trades guy. That’s just not me.

I know it dominates about 90 percent of the local hockey talk. I also know that I could run about countless hits and subscriptions by engaging in that. But I’d like to think that what separates this site, at least a little, is that it’s rooted in reality. I’m really in the locker room, really getting you answers to real questions about real things.

Besides which, it continues to blow me away that this remains Topic A when these Penguins are 20-6-4 and when they put forth an outstanding effort like the one last night.

What’s so terribly wrong with the players at hand?

To repeat, I get that moves will need to be made once closer to the deadline. I get that there’s interest. I guess I just don’t share the incessant rabidness that exists for this information, especially when 99.99999 percent of it is simply postulated.

atkpitt12: There seems to be some mystery surrounding what’s going on with Olli Maatta’s shoulder and if he ever was fully healed and ready to go this year. Have you heard anything regarding this around the team?

DK: Now that’s a real issue.

The next good thing I hear this week about Maatta’s shoulder will be the first. The word on the inside is that it looks serious, which would explain why the athlete is seeking a second opinion. In general, one only seeks second opinions when one doesn’t like the first.

To be blunt, if Maatta has another shoulder surgery, he’s done for the season.

To be more blunt, if he has another shoulder surgery on the same shoulder, he’s going to have a hard road back. A shoulder injury for an NHL defenseman is the toughest, they’ll all tell you, because there is only so much they can do to strengthen it and improve rotational flexibility until the first time they get smashed into the plexiglass.

Was Maatta rushed back?

Way too early to go there. But the other stuff I’ve mentioned … doesn’t sound good.

Ray Caliendo: If Pitt does end up in a football coaching search, I happen to like Tom Bradley. Am I all wet? Plus, I have a buddy who “has heard” that Pitt admin doesn’t like Bradley because of potential connection to the Jerry Sandusky scandal. I say that no one at no time has implicated Bradley and to discount him is to unfairly succumb to innuendo and supposition.

Any opinion on Bradley?

DK: I’ve never had a bad word for Bradley and, in fact, at the height of the Sandusky fire, I was one of the few to write that Penn State should have entertained keeping him as full-time coach. He is, by every account, a good and honorable man.

That said, I also feel like raising Bradley’s name is a classic case of throwing in every familiar name once something like this occurs, rather than doing an actual search. And that, at the risk of repeating myself, is why it’s got to be so ominous for Pitt that Steve Pederson will conduct this search.

Let’s make this clear again: Pederson can’t hire football coaches.

Some people can. Pederson can’t.

What Pitt needs and deserves right now if a first-rate search for the very best candidates, whether that coach is a big name or a little-known coordinator. It needs the full resources of the university, including actual salary allowance, of course, and it needs a real process.

What it doesn’t need is Pederson making the final call and showing up with a comatose Mike Haywood or a hyperactive Todd Graham or a can’t-wait-to-coach-back-in-Wisconsin Paul Chryst.

That, most unfortunately, won’t happen.

DKS: I’ve heard and read for a long while about the Steelers’ defense being complicated and taking a long time for younger players to learn. With the need for younger players to be playing, either because of retirements, ineffectiveness of veteran starters or injuries, has the defense been simplified at all to help the younger players get up to speed faster and, if not, should that have happened earlier, really going back to training camp? Wouldn’t that be a reflection of Dick LeBeau’s flexibility?

DK: There’s been no indication of any slowing down of the playbook or learning curve. None. Zero. Tomlin himself attested to that two weeks ago.

I happen to share your view: Younger players need to get on the field.

I take Stephon Tuitt as a prime example. His natural athleticism and aggressiveness are easy to see. And he’s especially easy to notice on the pass rush. But game after game, his grade on run defense is low, even after this past one. Now, one could suggest he needs to get better in that regard, and it would be fair. But it’s also fair to wonder what percentage of that could be a lack of awareness of where he’s supposed to be in a given scheme or situation.

To me, if you have a Tuitt and aren’t turning him loose because a guy like Cam Thomas understands your Xs and Os, something is seriously amiss. Let the players play.

Now, that said, for full context, Tomlin also made it clear today that he’s leaning toward Jarvis Jones over Arthur Moats for the Chiefs game. Jones has one more year with LeBeau’s playbook, but Moats has far more NFL experience. So it isn’t always about age.

PGHinDC: Here is an easy one: Who is the Steelers’ emergency QB this season? Is it still Heath Miller? Watching the Texans game and seeing the punter warming up on the sidelines after Tom Savage got hurt made me think about this.

DK: Finally, an easy one! Antonio Brown is the answer. He’s pretty good, too.

Michael Dillon: The demand on you to produce content for this website has to be demanding and is appreciated by all your subscribers. Any thoughts on hiring a freelance writer to do fill in work once you take a well deserved break?

DK: There have been a ton of extra demands, Michael, but it’s not the stuff you see. The writing hasn’t been hard. It’s all the extra elements related to the business and the site, and that’s where we’re fortifying things with more investments and, very soon, our first full-time employee.

Thanks to all for participating, especially after the hour delay. Really fun stuff today.