Kovacevic: There'll be no greater shock to the system than all this speed

"There's obviously some big dudes here."

Calvin Austin III shared this observation with me the other day on the South Side, blissfully timing it with the biggest of dudes, Darnell Washington, blocking the sun as he passed by us.

"Some fast dudes, too," Washington would quip upon overhearing. "Don't forget about them."

No, don't do that. No matter how much of a shock to the collective system all this newfound speed might be on this special Sunday, the occasion of the Steelers' 91st season opener, 1:02 p.m. against the 49ers at Acrisure Stadium. In fact, I see it as the factor in this one.

See, for all the rightful fuss over the added bulk this offseason, over Andy Weidl's awesome remark about how he and Omar Khan were amassing a roster of "physical, tough, smart players, strategic thinkers that you can take on the road, guys who can feel good about on your bus going to the stadium" and, above all, over Mount Washington his very big and bad self ...

... the reality is that the greatest difference in these Steelers will be Austin, who's the size of one of Washington's legs, will enter a delayed rookie year after missing one to a foot injury. And Jaylen Warren, who's now a 1B to Najee Harris much more than a backup, will see more carries. And Anthony McFarland, after months of prepping and prodding from running backs coach Eddie Faulkner, is finally running toward open grass the way he did as an explosive back at Maryland. And don't dare omit Diontae Johnson, who's displayed a chemistry with Kenny Pickett that could only come from the hard sessions both have invested.

Of Austin, Warren, McFarland and Johnson, Diontae's the tallest by a mile at 5 feet 10. But all four are blessed with uncommon speed and/or quickness, and all are now being put to use in ways that didn't happen in 2022. No one will know -- since no one would say -- why it didn't, but for whatever reason, from what I've been told, management's after-the-season meetings resulted in a consensus need for speed. And that didn't mean setting up more sweeps or similar schemes. Nor could it mean putting it all on any one player, particularly Austin, whose full recovery wasn't a certainty. Rather, it meant rounding up as many options as possible.

As Austin told me, "It was going to take all of us. We all knew that. We need to have multiple threats, multiple ways to get them the ball ... everything."

Multiple ways, indeed. It's funny to me how, every time anyone's mentioned the Steelers' lack of splash in recent years -- really, since Antonio Brown, to be blunt -- the only context that seems to arise is a lack of deep throws. Which was an accurate criticism, of course, but there are lots of ways to score touchdowns from distance, and it's been heartening to see that embraced. And better yet to see it executed:

Sure, it's been training camp and preseason, none of which approaches the challenge of facing, oh, say, the NFL's No. 1 ranked defense from a year ago. But templates matter, especially when executed as pristinely as the offense just did over the past month. They know where they're supposed to be and when and why.

This, too: They know they matter. Because while none of Austin, Warren or McFarland will take the field Sunday with the first-team offense, they just spent extensive time taking extensive snaps in practice and preseason games, all toward being critical components of what's about to come. Beginning right here.

Remember where this was written, all right?

• The Steelers will play well. That's my immediate feel. Doesn't mean they'll prevail. The other guys were just in a conference championship game. But it's tough to wrap my head around doing so many things so right for so long, then laying an egg.

• Sure, I'll give credit to Matt Canada for what's above ... but only after one of two events: A. Anyone can explain/justify why this emphasis didn't take root previously. B. Everything clicks in this opener.

• I don't intend to dismiss the importance of the bigs to the offense. Like, at all. If anything, their effectiveness at pounding the ball inside with Harris, plus the exceptional blocking of two potential receiving targets in Washington and George Pickens, sets that stage.

• One could reasonably condense any advanced analysis of this game to T.J. Watt vs. someone named Colton McKivitz. No disrespect 'n' at, but nobody'd want to be the right tackle making his fifth NFL start in his fourth NFL season amid just 446 career NFL snaps ... against Watt. Either the 49ers double up on Watt -- which very few opponents do, curiously -- or they might as well not show. No hype.

• The greatest worry on defense should be Brock Purdy's quick hitters over the middle, though only in the scenario that the Steelers' inside linebackers are exposed as being inferior in pass coverage. That said, I can't manufacture much of a worry anywhere, truth be told, including this. If the inside linebackers don't get this done, the three-safety set can. Or extra corners. Which is why the versatile secondary will be so valuable. Can't stress that enough.

• I'm not focused on Purdy's surgically repaired elbow. Nor George Kittle's wonky groin. Nor Nick Bosa's inactivity since, uh, January. And infinitely more important, neither are the Steelers. Seriously, not a syllable in there all week about the opponent aside from respect. The reason: Execution. They've been able to execute, and they have such faith in how they've done it that the opponent doesn't/shouldn't matter much.

• If Dick LeBeau were the defensive coordinator for this one, he'd have spent the past several days emphasizing the simple art of tackling. The 49ers will make their connections. Deebo Samuel will run free. So will Christian McCaffrey. It just can't be for long.

• The weather's the weather for both teams, but I can't write a column about a speed advantage without bringing up that it's supposed to rain all morning and pretty much right through kickoff. On one hand, this delights me, since we haven't had nearly enough rain around here this summer and Pittsburgh needs more than most since we've got a 42% tree density that's the highest of any city in the U.S. On the other, it could really ruin the field, combined with the Pitt game Saturday night.

• I can't imagine our city's reaction to a W. Really can't. This has been the most positivity I've felt around this fan base in forever. New QB. Young, promising players. Legit ceiling on offense. Legit superstars on defense. Hunger all over.

• And Kenny. The only people anywhere pondering his future are those who haven't paid attention.

• Thanks for reading this. I'll have not one but two full columns following this game.