Pro Football Focus recently ranked each team’s defensive lines ahead of the 2020 season. Here’s why the Pittsburgh Steelers were their number one choice.
The Steelers defense looked shakey at best over the first two weeks of the 2019 season. They allowed 33 points on the road to the New England Patriots and surrendered 28 points on their own turf in Week 2. But since that point, there may not have been a better defense in the league than Pittsburgh’s.
Keith Bulter’s unit held their opponents to 17 points or less in 9 of their remaining 14 games, and they never surrendered more than 28 points in a single game during that span. The addition of All-Pro safety, Minkah Fitzpatrick, no doubt played a factor in their success.
Recently, Pro Football Focus’ Sam Monson took the liberty of ranking each team’s defensive lines prior to the start of the 2020 NFL season. He had the Steelers at number one. Here’s some of what he had to say:
"T.J. Watt took another step forward in 2019, playing at a legitimate Defensive Player of the Year level. Watt ended the season with the highest pass-rushing grade (91.7) of any edge rusher in the league in addition to racking up 81 total pressures. Both figures were new career highs for a player whose progression has been steady and inexorable in the NFL. He also forced eight fumbles and had two interceptions. The Steelers’ defensive front featured career years out of multiple players in 2019. Cameron Heyward was the best interior defender in the league outside of Aaron Donald; Javon Hargrave had a big season after taking over for the injured Stephon Tuitt; and Bud Dupree had career-highs in pressures, overall grade, run-defense grade and pass-rush grade. Hargrave departed in free agency, but the other main figures all return — including Tuitt, who will look to continue his impressive form before injury."
Monson goes on to make mention of the additions of Chris Wormley and Alex Highsmith this offseason, noting the spark they could provide off the bench. However, when you look at this unit an a whole, there is no reason to believe that the Steelers can’t be the very best in the league in 2020.
In 2019, T.J. Watt graded out as PFF’s best edge defender in the league with an overall grade of 91.7 en route to being a Defensive Player of the Year candidate. Likewise, Cameron Heyward was equally impressive in the interior defensive line – falling short to just Aaron Donald for the best grade on the season.
While Pittsburgh did lose a sizable piece to their defensive line this offseason in Javon Hargrave, Stephon Tuitt was playing as well as anyone before his injury. If this is the year he can finally stay healthy, he could be even closer to Cam Heyward than to Hargrave as a player. Meanwhile, though we could argue that Bud Dupree isn’t worth the money he’s receiving on the franchise tag this year, he proved to be a solid edge defender working opposite of Watt last year.
Just behind the Steelers on the list of best defensive lines entering the 2020 season are Philadelphia Eagles (2nd), Washington (3rd), and San Fransisco. Like the Steelers, each of these units possesses at least one-star player and have depth to spare, Eagles defensive lineman Fletcher Cox is arguably second only to Aaron Donald while Nick Bosa showed how good he was for the 49ers in his rookie season. At the same time, Washington already had a talented defensive line but added Chase Young this past April – one of the best edge defender prospects we have seen at the position.
There is no guarantee that the Steelers defensive line will end up being the best unit in 2020, and injuries could certainly play a factor. However, it’s nice to see this talented group getting the recognition they deserve. Hopefully, they can build on their impressive performances from last season.