The Steelers have a number of players who don’t get the recognition they deserve. Here are the five most underappreciated players on Pittsburgh’s roster.
Regardless of the team or sport, the stars are always the players dominating the media. For the Steelers, the offseason has been a time to track Ben Roethlisberger’s health and watch videos of JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Conner working out together.
To be fair, stars play a major factor in the success of a team. But what about the players who don’t hog the spotlight?
For far too long, we have given an overwhelming amount of credit to our stars and have ignored the underrated players who work their tails off each week to make a difference for the Steelers. That needs to end.
This isn’t something that has just happened recently, but it’s been a historical trend in sports and for the Pittsburgh Steelers. When Antonio Brown was stealing the show, he had an elite deep threat opposite of him in Martavis Bryant to alleviate pressure. When Le’Veon Bell was gashing defenses, he had one of the NFL’s best offensive line units for a four-year span. When James Harrison earned Defensive Player of the Year honors, he had a very capable counterpart working across from him in Lamaar Woodley.
Stars deserve a large portion of credit when things go right and blame when things go wrong. However, here are five Steelers who have been underappreciated in Pittsburgh:
5. CB Cameron Sutton
When we talk about the Steelers historically great 2017 draft class, we are quick to point out what success players like T.J. Watt, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and James Conner have been (and that’s not incorrect). However, Cameron Sutton is always the player who gets overlooked.
Though he played just 25 percent of defensive snaps for Pittsburgh last season, Sutton as phenomenal when on the field. He allowed just 14 of 25 targets to be completed in his coverage, intercepted the ball once, and allowed just 5.3 yards per target and 54.1 passer rating, according to Pro Football Reference’s advanced statistics.
Sutton also managed a 74.5 overall grade from Pro Football Focus last season – which would have been good for 22nd in the league among all NFL cornerbacks had he qualified with enough snaps.
While Joe Haden continues to own a majority of the spotlight at his position with his three-time Pro Bowl resume and his ability to take the ball away, Sutton is left doing a great job in the shadows and getting very little recognition for it.
4. WR James Washington
The Steelers have a deep, young room of wide receivers, but despite leading Pittsburgh in receiving last season, he’s likely the least popular of their top four guys.
Obviously, JuJu is a fan favorite who hogs a large portion of the overall spotlight. His videos are constantly posted to social media, and he has an energetic and fun personality. But it’s not just JuJu who is leaving Washington in the dark.
2018 rookie Diontae Johnson gained a lot of popularity as the season progressed last year, and there are already writers talking him up as a future number one receiver. At the same time, rookie Chase Claypool has drawn a lot more buzz than Washington this offseason. The 6’4” athletic second-round pick has intriguing measurables for the position.
Let’s not forget that Washington was a former second-round draft choice in his own right, and was far more productive in college than any of his wide receiver colleges in Pittsburgh. Washington did nothing but impress last season with his ability to track poorly thrown balls. He finished 21st in the league in yards per target despite being 99th in catchable target rate, according to Playerprofiler.com (let that one sink in).
Washington ultimately earned 735 receiving yards on just 52 catchable targets from Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges. He has earned our respect.
3. OT Matt Feiler
Here’s a guy that did an awesome job in 2019, and yet, he was still the least popular starting offensive lineman on the team. Everybody always talked about David DeCastro and Maurkice Pouncey for their former All-Pro statuses, Alejandro Villanueva for his backstory, and Ramon Foster for his leadership and likable personality.
But outside of maybe just DeCastro, Feiler was the best offensive lineman on the team last year. According to Pro Football Focus, Feiler was the highest-graded offensive lineman on the Steelers with an overall grade of 75.9 (good for 19th among all NFL tackles). Yet it’s Pouncey – who had a historically bad year – who earned Pro Bowl honors last season.
Feiler is probably already too late in his career to ever truly earn the respect he deserves from media circles, but we need to give it to him. Though he has just 27 career starts, the former undrafted free agent turns 28 years old this July.
Feiler is a versatile player with the flexibility to play all along the offensive line. He is clearly one of the most underappreciated players on the Steelers.
2. CB Steven Nelson
Steven Nelson has earned more recognition as of late – thanks in large part to advanced analytics that show how good he was last season. But without them, he was often unnoticed.
When it comes to the cornerback position, it’s usually a good thing when your name isn’t called. While Joe Haden earned five interceptions last season, he was also picked on more often in coverage – surrendering five touchdowns on his watch.
Nelson, on the other hand, didn’t get all of the takeaways (just one interception) but he still allowed a lower passer rating and completion percentage while not surrendering a single touchdown on the season, according to Pro Football Reference.
Nelson was phenomenal in his first season with the Steelers, and he has a chance to be one of the best free-agent signings the team has ever made if his strong play continues. However, Haden earned Pro Bowl honors and was the star at the position last year. Let’s show Nelson a little love for his play in 2019.
1. DL Stephon Tuitt
In my mind, nobody has drawn the short end of the stick for the Steelers quite like Stephon Tuitt. In addition to suffering injuries every season since his rookie year in 2014, Tuitt’s play has been overshadowed by the dominant emergence of Cameron Heyward over the past three years.
Though Tuitt is entering his seventh NFL season, he turned just 27 years old in May and has a long career still ahead of him. But the former second-round pick doesn’t just have youth on his side.
Tuitt has earned 9.0 sacks in his last 14 games, yet nobody is even talking about the impact he’s been making for the Steelers. Despite playing just six games last sesaon, Tuitt finished as PFF’s 6th rated interior defender with an overall grade of 89.1. This was higher than players like Chris Jones, D.J. Reader, DeForest Bucker, and Javon Hargrave.
Tuitt has been on the edge of dominance for some time now, but injuries have derailed his promising NFL career. If he can stay healthy for 16 games this season, I very much doubt that Tuitt will fly under the radar any longer. I think he’s the most underappreciated player on the Steelers.
It will be interesting to watch these guys contribute in 2020. If they continue to play at a high level, it won’t be long until they are earning some time in the spotlight alongside the stars of the team.