The Pittsburgh Steelers have a more star-studded cast than you realize. Here are all of their Pro Bowl and All-Pro players heading into 2020.
There are a lot of fans out there who may not be aware of the Pro Bowl and All-Pro statutes of every player on the Pittsburgh Steelers. While Pro Bowls are fan-voted honors that don’t necessarily represent the NFL’s best players, All-Pro casting is voted on by the associated press and typically reserved for the best of the best in the NFL.
Recently, I decided to breakdown each Steelers player who has earned at least one Pro Bowl or first-team All-Pro honors at some point in their careers. Let’s start with the players who have earned All-Pros:
Current Steelers who have been first-team All-Pros:
Maurkice Pouncey: 2-time All-Pro, 8-time Pro Bowl
David DeCastro: 2-time Pro Bowl, 5-time Pro Bowl
Cameron Heyward: 2-time All-Pro, 3-time Pro Bowl
T.J. Watt: 1-time All-Pro, 2-time Pro Bowl
Minkah Fitzpatrick: 1-time All-Pro, 1-time Pro Bowl
These five players either are or have been some of the best of the best in the NFL at their position. David DeCastro is still going strong as one of the league’s most dominant offensive guards, while Cameron Heyward is coming off his second first-team All-Pro honors in 2019.
While I personally think that Maurkice Pouncey has been a bit overrated in his career, he has earned the most personal honors of any player on the Steelers with two All-Pros and eight Pro Bowls. Meanwhile, T.J. Watt and Minkah Fitzpatrick have already earned All-Pro honors at or before the age of 25.
Current Steelers who have been Pro Bowl players:
Ben Roethlisberger: 6-time Pro Bowl
Joe Haden: 3-time Pro Bowl
Alejandro Villanueva: 2-time Pro Bowl
Eric Ebron: 1-time Pro Bowl
JuJu Smith-Schuster: 1-time Pro Bowl
James Conner: 1-time Pro Bowl
Chris Boswell: 1-time Pro Bowl
Believe it or not, Ben Roethlisberger has never been a first-team All-Pro player in his 16-year NFL career. He does, however, have six Pro Bowls to his resume. Joe Haden is another player nearing the end of his career. The former first-round cornerback taken back in 2010 earned three Pro Bowls in his 10 NFL seasons – two with Cleveland and one with Pittsburgh.
Alejandro Villanueva earned a pair of Pro Bowl appearances for his performances in 2017 and 2018, while Eric Ebron, JuJu Smith-Schuster, James Conner, and Chris Boswell each have just one Pro Bowl to their names. From this group, we could see more Pro Bowls to come – especially if JuJu is able to step up his game in the future.
Overall, Pittsburgh’s 12 Pro Bowl players are thoroughly impressive compared to most NFL teams, and that’s probably part of the reason why Pittsburgh doesn’t have a losing season since 2003. With Stephon Tuitt being robbed by injuries for much of his career and with young players like Devin Bush and Diontae Johnson ready to break out, perhaps the Steelers could add even a few more names to this already impressive list.