One of the most storied franchises in the NFL is going through one of their biggest transition periods after the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger, how will it affect them?
Strength
With large thanks to a guy named TJ Watt, the Steelers led the NFL in sacks last season and disrupted opposing quarterbacks better than anyone else. Apart from Watt, they have Cameron Heyward who has been a star for a long time and Alex Highsmith who is coming into his third season and a bigger role. Despite the changes, I can’t imagine the Steelers’ pass-rush changing.
Weakness
Najee Harris was a first-round pick in 2021 and the consensus best running back in the draft. Despite this, the Steelers’ running game was tragic last season, with a combination of bad offensive line play and lack of depth. They ranked 29th for yards, 28th for touchdowns and 29th for yards per attempt. Despite not getting any depth behind Harris, they did improve the offensive line which they will hope helps.
Player to watch
Myles Jack was consistently the Jaguars’ best defensive player but was squeezed out and signed a cheap deal with Pittsburgh. Despite off-ball line-backers maybe not being viewed as a valuable position, Jack can come in and be a genuine difference maker in this defence. He just feels like a Steeler
Who’s under pressure?
We are not sure who is going to win the quarterback job yet, however, whoever does is going to feel the pressure straight away. At this stage, I would predict Mitch Trubisky wins the job, however we know how that finished last time he was a starter. His likely back-up is the rookie Kenny Pickett, who the Steelers love, but didn’t convince me throughout the scouting process. With Big (Ben) shoes to fill, pressure is on!
Projection
The Steelers have never had a losing record under coach Mike Tomlin, so it isn’t a wise choice to rule them out, but I am doing it. In an absolutely stacked AFC and AFC North, the lack of star power at QB and struggles in the running game will find the Steelers out. Their defence is going to keep them in a lot of games, but to win in the AFC you are going to have to put up points and I can’t trust Trubisky or Pickett to do that.
Win-loss: 6-11
Talezassian
Roar Rookie
I actually think the Steelers are perfeectly fine with okay to bad QB play this year - apparently next year's draft class is loaded with QB talent, so a high draft pick suits them just fine.
Jake Smith
Roar Rookie
Mason Rudolph is not a starting NFL QB, if he wins the job they are in deep trouble! You forgot about Dionte Johnson who is a really good player and will be relied on heavily, Claypool and Pickens are the big play options and they like Calvin Austin, another rookie from Memphis. I don't think WR is an issue, it's how they are going to get the ball that's the issue
Sheikh
Roar Rookie
There's also Mason Ruldolph fighting for the QB job! As well as your comments on the RBs, the Steeler's WR stocks seem a little light to me; they've lost JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Washington and they seem to be relying on Claypool and 2rd round pick Pickens as no-one else on their books stands out for me. Not ideal for potentially a rookie QB.