Pittsburgh Steelers: 8 defensive players who will make the Pro Bowl in 2017

Bud Dupree

Bud Dupree is doing everything he can to get out of his first few year slump. As one of the most highly-touted players in the 2015 NFL Draft, the speedy edge rusher has yet to put up impressive numbers since joining the Steelers.

After working with former NFL pass rusher, Chuck Smith, over the offseason, Dupree is looking for one moral victory in 2017 – Defensive Player of the Year. Whether or not he gets it won’t be known until the season is over, but we should have high expectations for someone putting this much work into his game.

With T.J. Watt joining the team, defenses will need to focus their attention on both sides of the pass rush. Instead of Dupree being the main edge rusher, Pittsburgh will now have three guys who can dominate the offensive line at any moment.

This is going to give Dupree a lot less pressure and should make his life easier in getting to the backfield. As long as all the offseason work pays off, he should expect to be one of the best outside linebackers of 2017, and represent the Steelers in the Pro Bowl.