Mark Madden: Steelers' Kwon Alexander, Keeanu Benton have talent, pedigree to earn starting roles

Loaded like a freight train, flying like an aeroplane and set to deliver refreshing sports notes to those ready to crash and burn!

• Kwon Alexander played well at inside linebacker Friday night at Tampa. If he outperforms Cole Holcomb or Elandon Roberts, Alexander should start. Alexander has started 86 games in the NFL, including 12 last year for the New York Jets. He made the Pro Bowl in 2017. The Steelers are weak at inside ’backer. Holcomb and Roberts have zero Pro Bowls between them. Judge by what’s happening. Don’t go preconceived.

• Same goes for rookie Keeanu Benton, who also looked good. His 6-foot-4, 315-pound frame would help on that defensive line. He’s got to be better than Montravius Adams.

• Kenny Pickett threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to George Pickens. Over the middle. Pickens got 21 yards after the catch. It was like a mirage. The Steelers don’t do that. The Steelers got just two touchdowns from outside the red zone last season. Thirty-three yards would have been their longest TD. For one play, the Steelers were modern. Rinse and repeat.

• Pickett looked sharp in his brief appearance. His ball had zip. He made plays on the run. Pickett wore his baseball cap peak front. A sign of maturity and leadership.

• The Steelers briefly used Broderick Jones at left tackle with Dan Moore Jr. switching to right tackle during Sunday’s practice. That reportedly is being mooted for the long term. If that’s the case, consider it for right now. Between Jones, Moore and incumbent right tackle Chuks Okorafor, Jones has the most talent. To repeat what was in this space recently, if the Steelers traded up to draft Jones 14th overall and he’s not ready to contribute quickly, they picked the wrong guy.

• Talk-show host Paul Zeise said, “You can’t have a conversation about the Steelers.” He’s right. You can’t. The Steelers are the local sports version of MAGA. Facts don’t matter. Just yell and repeat. If you’re tweeting, use all caps. I think the Steelers are going to go 9-8, which might make the playoffs. That’s seen as hating.

• You can’t have a conversation about Pickett, either. Pickett succeeding seems very important to Pitt fans. He gave Pitt’s mediocre program validation via one great season and can continue doing so by playing well for the Steelers. I think Pickett’s ceiling is Kirk Cousins, which would be very good. That’s seen as hating.

• Here’s the entire Generation Z frame of sports analysis: HE’S A DAWG. GIVE HIM THE BAG. YEAAAHHHH! LET’S GOOOOOO! YOU DON’T KNOW BALL. HE’S “HIM.” That’s not blanket criticism. It’s the entire basis of a few successful sports talk shows.

• The 24/7/365 saturation of NFL coverage is beyond overbearing. It’s mid-August. I shouldn’t be sick of football already.

• Mike Greenberg is one of the two or three best national sports talkers. There are few I respect more or can still watch/listen to. He hasn’t lapsed into grotesque self-parody like Stephen A. Smith or Skip Bayless. But Greenberg’s New York Jets obsession has gone from endearing to creepy. The Aaron Rodgers effect, obviously. I cringe when Greenberg does his needy Jets fan gimmick on ESPN’s “Get Up.”

• Free-agent Slovak winger Tomas Tatar says the Pittsburgh Penguins are interested in him. Tatar, 32, has had six 20-goal seasons, netting exactly 20 last season with New Jersey. He’s got skill. Decent on the backcheck. But Tatar’s salary cap hit last year was $4.5 million, and the Penguins’ cap is already squeezed tight. Tatar would be a good get, but how? (That’s what I said before pinball wizard Kyle Dubas somehow got Erik Karlsson.)

• Tatar’s initial value would be to deputize for Jake Guentzel in the top six while Guentzel is injured. But when all the Penguins’ forwards are available, either Tatar, Reilly Smith or Bryan Rust would become a valuable third-line anchor. (That’s what Rust really is: an excellent third-liner who hit the linemate lottery.)

• Conjecture persists that Karlsson and Kris Letang will ultimately have some problem over how duties are divided between them on defense. But both will be on the power play. Both will play 23-25 minutes every game. Neither will steal shifts from the other. Chad Ruhwedel certainly won’t steal shifts from either. There will be zero conflict.

• When women’s soccer held its first World Cup in 1991, European nations were only marginally interested. England didn’t even participate. But the European countries are invested now. Three of this year’s four semifinalists are from Europe. Uh-oh. The United States’ run could be over.

• Baltimore Orioles play-by-play announcer Kevin Brown absurdly got suspended for saying something factual and inconsequential that ownership didn’t like. Brown since has returned to the booth, issuing a statement that sounded like he was being held hostage. “I love them, they love me, blah, blah, blah.” Hey, Kevin … cough twice if there’s a gun at your head. Brown should have quit. He would have been hired quickly elsewhere. He wimped out.

• Stanford and Cal in the ACC? Not exactly “Atlantic Coast,” is it? It’s not going to happen. But college football’s alignment long since has abandoned any attachment to geography. The local rivalries I loved are dead, certainly in any meaningful sense. So, I’m not interested in college football. The uber-big programs don’t care. As long as we’ve got Michigan-Ohio State, Alabama-Auburn and Oklahoma-Texas, it doesn’t matter who Pitt plays.