Andy Weidl was hired as the Steelers assistant general manager after the retirement of Kevin Colbert.
The Steelers promoted Omar Khan to replace Colbert as general manager. However, Khan is mostly a cap wizard. He’s gotten the Steelers out of holes before, and keeping him to work his magic was a must with how the Steelers keep managing to be in cap corners.
The Steelers elected to hire the former Philadelphia Eagles director of player personnel, and Weidl, while in Philly, had a great eye for talent and built the draft boards for the Eagles. This will be his same role for the Steelers, Omar Khan confirmed during the NFL Combine.
Weidl will not make the picks, but if his track record in Philly is a testament to what we can expect him to build, we should all be excited for the NFL Draft.
The Eagles built most of their team from homegrown talent, most of their draftees, most noticeably in the trenches. Every starter the Eagles had on their offensive line last year, we’re homegrown guys, scouted by Weidl.
You knew Andy Weidl’s influence would be felt early, and it had too. The Steelers needed to listen to Weidl and his input, leading to an already improved offensive line.
The Steelers signed two guards in free agency, tracking back to Andy Weidl and the Eagles. The Steelers signed Nate Herbig and Isaac Seumalo.
Herbig signed with the Eagles as an undrafted free agent in 2019 and was a great depth piece for the Eagles and, recently, the Jets. He’s young and has a ton of starting experience.
Seumalo was drafted in the 3rd round by the Eagles in 2016, Weidl’s first year as assistant director of player personnel. He built himself up naturally and proved to be a mauler and a force of a guard for the Eagles. He will do the same for the Steelers at either guard spot.
There’s a common theme between these two linemen. Yes, they both track back to Andy Weidl and the Eagles. But most liking, they’re both massive, aggressive blockers and are not who defensive players want to run into in the ground game.
That’s been a common trend with Andy Weidl and early reports of who the Steelers are looking at regarding linemen. They want mammoths; they want big guys on the line.
Andy Weidl is all about building the trenches; we’ve seen for several years how important it is to a team’s success. That trend could continue throughout the draft process. The Eagles recently is a great example.
The Steelers have lacked in the trenches for years, and before Weidl was hired, the front office didn’t put much effort into rebuilding it and mainly trusted their unproven depth.
Andy Weidl already has his fingerprints on rebuilding the Steelers. He’s brought in his guys and offensive line, and the team overall is already better on paper.
The fact that his influence is already being felt is a great thing and should excite us all for the draft.
There should be no worry about how Weidl will set the draft board. His track record is too good and consistent in Philly to think otherwise. We must trust Tomlin, Khan, and Rooney to make the correct picks.
Andy Weidl is quickly becoming one of the best moves the Steelers have made in recent years.
If the Steelers hit a home run with the draft, a lot of credit to the front office, but I think the addition of Andy Weidl is going underrated, and he should get more credit than he already is getting.