Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have been quite busy through the free agency period and the draft, much like many other teams have been. However, the team has made numerous strides to improve its roster, which includes signing former Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson and trading for former Bears quarterback Justin Fields.
Though grading or predicting how draftees will do can be viewed as premature, the Steelers did do a good job at boosting their offensive line. The team plans to run the ball with effectiveness, and putting together a stellar offensive line is the sure-fire way to ensure running lanes are opened up to aid a good rushing attack.
Though the Steelers beefed up the offensive line through the draft, one area where the team still needs work is at wide receiver. Receiver George Pickens had a good year with 1,140 receiving yards, but the next closest was Diontae Johnson, who secured 717 yards.
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Johnson has since been traded to the Carolina Panthers, leaving the receiving room the Steelers currently have as majorly lacking. The dropoff from Johnson’s 717 receiving yards falls to 370 yards, which belonged to running back Jaylen Warren.
The Steelers clearly need help at wide receiver, and they have since been attached to huge names and rumors. The biggest rumor is that they were actively attempting to trade for San Francisco 49ers star receivers Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk leading up to the draft.
Steelers general manager Omar Khan has since addressed these rumors. He appeared on ESPN’s The Pat McAfee show to discuss Pittsburgh making a play for a big receiver.
Khan was asked by McAfee if there was any truth to the Steelers attempting to land these receivers. Khan simply stated, “I heard about it [rumors about trading for 49ers receivers]… but there is nothing going on.”
Khan could be playing the role of the naive general manager when he knows full well who the Steelers are attempting to land, or they truly might not be trying to trade for anyone at the moment. Training camp and preseason could lead to the team exploring options at wide receiver far more, though it would be believed Khan would attempt to land someone far before that.
Apart from the rumors that Aiyuk and Samuel could still be traded, Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins is also a possibility. Higgins stated he wanted a trade after the Bengals were unwilling to give him a new contract. He did recently state that he expects to be with the team in 2024, and his not being traded right before or during the draft means Cincinnati likely feels the same.
The Bengals are also a division rival of the Steelers, so it would be highly unlikely they would allow Higgins to go to the team they would be directly competing with for a playoff berth in 2024. Still, Khan could come up with a deal for Higgins that Pittsburgh would be hard-pressed to pass on. Either way, Khan could be throwing up a smokescreen to throw other teams off the trail of the Steelers landing a premier wide receiver.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Pittsburgh Police detectives are investigating after a man’s body was found underneath a trailer behind the former Shop ‘n Save store in the city’s Carrick neighborhood.
Pittsburgh Public Safety said late Monday night that detectives from the Violent Crime division responded to the area of Amanda Street and Wynoka Street in Carrick after a man’s body was found around 8:30 p.m.
Public Safety said the man’s body was found underneath a trailer and that he was pronounced dead by medics at the scene.
A photo provided by Pittsburgh Public Safety shows officers surrounding a taped off area and what appears to be a refrigerated trailer parked at the loading dock along Amanda Street behind the former Brownsville Shop n’ Save, which closed its doors last month.
No details surrounding the circumstances of the man’s death were provided by Public Safety, who said that the cause and the manner of the man’s death will be determined by the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The man’s identity has not been released.
Public Safety said the investigation into the man’s death is “ongoing.”
In the early 1960s, the peregrine falcon population declined so sharply that the raptors weren’t even nesting in Pennsylvania. But now, the National Aviary says a record number have been counted in Allegheny County.
The National Aviary says six peregrine falcons were recorded in the county during the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count. The nation’s longest-running citizen science project collects data on bird populations for ornithologists, the aviary says. It also plays a role in guiding conservation action, like what was needed to bring peregrine falcons back from the brink of extinction.
Because of the use of DDT, peregrine falcons were no longer nesting in the state of Pennsylvania by the early 1960s, the aviary said. But after the harmful pesticide, which negatively affects reproduction rates in birds, was banned in 1972, conservation efforts have helped the peregrine falcon rebound. It was removed from the federal endangered species list in 1999 and Pennsylvania’s list in 2021.
The record number of peregrine falcons in Allegheny County is thanks in part to the nest on top of Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning in Oakland. For the past two years, biologists with the Pennsylvania Game Commission have banded chicks born in the nest. Three were banded last year, and two the year before that.
People can watch Carla and Ecco raise their family in the nest on a livestream camera run by the National Aviary. Carla laid her first egg of the breeding season on March 16 last year, so the aviary says the start of another season isn’t too far away.
Police are investigating two shootings that happened less than 30 minutes apart on Sunday night in McKeesport.
Two men were injured in the shootings that happened at two different locations.
Allegheny County Police said that the department’s Homicide Unit was requested and responded to assist in the shooting investigations.
According to police, officers were first called to the area of Lysle Boulevard and Huey Street, where a man was shot just after 10:30 p.m. on Sunday night.
KDKA’s news crew at the scene saw the outside of the Sunoco gas station along Lysle Boulevard lined with crime tape and what appeared to be blood on the front door of the store.
Police also had an area taped off around the intersection of nearby 5th Avenue and Huey Street. The man who was shot in the area was taken to the hospital in stable condition.
Police said they are also investigating a shooting that happened in the area of an alleyway behind Madison Avenue, where another man was shot Dispatchers said the second shooting happened around 25 minutes after the first.
The two shooting scenes in McKeesport are located around 1/4 of a mile apart.
At the second shooting scene, KDKA’s news crew at the scene saw police taping off an alleyway between Madison Avenue and Petty Street.
Officers at the scene were shining flashlights and looking into a black sedan that had its flashers on. The man who was shot in the area of Madison Avenue was taken to the hospital in stable condition.
Police didn’t specify if the two shootings are believed to be related.
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