First Call: Potential trade partner if Steelers want to deal Skylar Thompson; Najee Harris could play Week 1 for L.A.
In Monday’s “First Call,” we consider a quarterback trade for the Pittsburgh Steelers. It looks like Najee Harris could play Week 1 for the Los Angeles Chargers after all. The Pirates prepare for a series against a familiar rival.
And two local schools square off in early-season NCAA soccer.
Possible partner
If the Steelers are looking to trade a backup quarterback for a late-round draft pick, a potential partner has emerged.
Las Vegas lost Adian O’Connell to a fractured wrist over the weekend. As a result, head coach Pete Carroll has let it be known that the franchise would like to acquire an “experienced player who can help.”
Could that be Skylar Thompson? Some Steelers fans are pushing for Thompson to be the No. 2 quarterback instead of Mason Rudolph. I would assume Rudolph would bring back a slightly better return in a trade. But I feel better about Rudolph being a longer-term starter this year than Thompson if something should happen to Aaron Rodgers.
Either way, I’d imagine Omar Khan and Las Vegas Raiders general manager John Spytek would at least talk. The Steelers could get by for a few weeks with some other quarterback at the No. 3 position until rookie Will Howard recovers from the hand injury he suffered in training camp.
Thompson finished with a 116.5 passer rating after three preseason games, tossing four touchdowns against one interception, throwing for 498 yards on 41 of 56 passing.
Of course, the Cleveland Browns, who have two veteran quarterbacks (Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett) and two rookies (Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel), may get a call as well. They just released Tyler Huntley, so that’s an option for Vegas as well.
The news on Najee
It appears that former Steeler running back Najee Harris is going to play in Week 1 for the Los Angeles Chargers. The running back’s health fell into question after an eye injury from a fireworks incident during a Fourth of July celebration.
Since then, he has been working back into practice with extreme caution. But now Chargers general manager Joe Horitz is expecting Harris in uniform to open the season against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sept. 5.
Harris and rookie Omarion Hampton should both see lots of playing time with Kimani Vidal currently third on the depth chart.
Over his first four years in the NFL with the Steelers, Harris amassed 5,461 yards from scrimmage.
Struggling in St. Louis
After a successful homestand, the Pirates are hitting the road. They’ll spend this week in St. Louis from Monday-Wednesday, then Boston from Friday-Sunday.
The Bucs just took five of six from the Blue Jays and Rockies at PNC Park, sweeping the Rockies by a combined score of 18-1 over three games this weekend. In fact, over six games against the Rockies and Jays, Pirates’ pitches yielded only 11 runs. Seven of them came in the lone loss of the series, a 7-3 defeat to Toronto on Tuesday.
As for the Cardinals, they are having a rough go of it lately, dropping eight of their last 11. The Cards return home to Missouri after splitting six games in Florida against Miami and Tampa Bay.
St. Louis is 64-67, fourth place in the National League Central. That’s seven games in front of the 57-74 Pirates. One thing to always worry about with the Pirates is their road record. They are 18-44 away from PNC Park. St. Louis is 35-30 at Busch Stadium.
The Pirates are 4-5 vs. the Cards this year. As of MLB.com’s listings Sunday night, Johan Oviedo (1-0, 4.50 ERA) will get his third start of the year Monday in the series opener against Michael McGreevy (5-2, 4.26 ERA). Tuesday’s matchup is Mitch Keller (5-12, 4.34) vs. Andre Pallante (6-11, 5.17). The Pirates haven’t designated a starter yet for Wednesday night. Sonny Gray (12-6, 4.33) is slated to start for the Cardinals.
