Steelers 2020 season will rise or fall on these 5 players

The Steelers enter the 2020 season with hopes of returning to the playoffs, but those hopes will rest on the performance of these 5 players

The Steelers, like all teams in the National Football League, enter this season as we do every season, with high hopes and great expectations.  Now, I am not privy to conversations that take place among the coaches and senior management, but I’m pretty sure those conversations do not include the following statement: ‘Wow, let’s hope we at least win a game this season’.

Admittedly, there were seasons where, as a fan, you were probably thinking this:  ‘Hey, let’s at least not finish last’, but those days are behind us and, hopefully, will not return.  The 2019 season was a disappointing season, in my view.  The Steelers had a legitimate chance to make the playoffs but ultimately fizzled out in the end.

While many players ‘stepped up’ last season, some did not, for various reasons.  Whether they were dealing with injuries or simply did not play up to expectations, the end result was another season where the Steelers and us, the fans, were watching to playoffs from the comfort of our homes with perhaps no rooting interest.

The success or failure of the 2020 season will, in my opinion, come down to how well certain players perform.  Football is the ultimate team sport and no one player typically makes or breaks a season, but, for the Steelers, I think our fortunes will rest on five players.

Keep in mind that the five aforementioned players are the players whom I believe can either ‘right the ship’ with stellar seasons or ‘sink the ship’ with sub-par seasons. Obviously, I am rooting for the latter and not the former.

With that in mind, let’s get this discussion started.