6 Steelers who are poised to break out in 2020 season

Daniel McCullers

I went back and forth on this one, but ultimately, Daniel McCullers is primed to break out this year no matter how many fans dislike the idea of him being on the team. This has little to do with his talent but with the fact that the Steelers have no options at the position outside of him and some young unknowns. To McCullers’s credit, he has steadily improved each season, especially under the tutelage of coach Karl Dunbar, but he has yet to make a real impact on the defense.

He has impressive size and strength, but his technique has been the area that he has struggled with. With NT, it is all about leverage, meaning McCullers has to compensate his height (naturally giving him less leverage) with pure strength. This has led to him walking linemen straight past the QB, but it has also led to him being completely taken out of plays as well.

Going into 2020, the Steelers have no experienced NT on the roster besides McCullers, making him the frontrunner to be the NT in base defense while a player like Tyson Alualu or Isaiah Buggs could take that role in subpackage. The Steelers are in base defense roughly 30 percent of the time, meaning McCullers would be in line to see around 300 snaps on defense. This would almost double the most snaps he’s seen (182 in 2016), meaning by default he should see his best season as a pro.

While McCullers isn’t likely to be a dominant force in 2020, he should have his best season as a pro. As the base defense NT, his primary goal will be to crash the middle and take up space, meaning his stats won’t be great, but his value will come by opening lanes for other defenders to make plays. Expect more from him this year (even if it’s by default) in the way of 25-30 tackles and say two sacks (all career highs).