The Steelers are coming off a disappointing season where they missed the playoffs for the second year in a row. Here are five things that could change that:
The Steelers are in a difficult place right now. They are coming off a late-season meltdown where they lost the last three games of the season. Things were looking up when they were 8-5 but the loss against the Bills started a downward spiral.
Devlin Hodges hit a rookie wall towards the end of the season. He won his first four starts only to fall apart in the last three games. He was even benched for Mason Rudolph. Neither could emerge as the clear cut backup to Ben Roethlisberger.
The Pittsburgh Steelers also struggled at the wide receiver position. Juju Smith-Schuster, James Washington and Diontae Johnson had mediocre seasons and neither really replaced Antonio Brown. Many, including myself, expected Juju Smith-Schuster to be Brown’s replacement.
The Steelers defense did pick up the slack for this team and they were a big reason this team made it to 8-8. TJ Watt and Cameron Heyward were elite pass rushers although from different positions. Minkah Fitzpatrick also emerged as a playmaker at free safety.
Coach Mike Tomlin garnered praise as possibly being Coach of the year. Our own Brandon Kring wrote about how Mike Tomlin deserves high praise. I still agree two months later as he kept this team at a 500 winning percentage considering the team lost Ben Roethlisberger.
Let’s take a look at the five moves this team needs to make this offseason: