Pittsburgh Steelers ranked 8th in power rankings to begin the 2020 season

The Pittsburgh Steelers stand to be a competitive team in 2020. Here’s why Bleacher Report has them ranked inside the top ten in their latest power rankings.

The Steelers have been all over the place in offseason power rankings stemming from multiple media outlets. However, the latest rankings have them rising into the top quarter of the league.

Just days away from the kickoff to the 2020 NFL season, Bleacher Report released their power rankings of all 32 NFL teams. A panel of three NFL analysts comprised the early rankings. On them, the Pittsburgh Steelers were ranked 8th in the league heading into the season. Here’s some of what they had to say:

"The Pittsburgh Steelers had a 2019 season to forget. They were blown out in Week 1 by the Patriots, lost starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to an elbow injury the following week and lurched their way to an 8-8 record, missing the postseason for the second year in a row. But with Roethlisberger healthy and back under center, a quick turnaround could be in the offing this year. Pittsburgh fielded one of the NFL’s best defenses last year, pacing the league in both sacks (54) and takeaways (38). The addition of Minkah Fitzpatrick proved to be a game-changer, and he’s out to prove last season was no fluke."

Why early ranking is fair for the Steelers

There’s plenty of reasons to get on board with this early ranking. Earlier in the offseason, there were a lot more questions about Ben Roethlisberger and how he would look slinging the ball around in training camp. Over the past few weeks, Ben had put those debates to rest. While we still need to see what he can do in the speed of the NFL game following his surgery to repair his injured throwing elbow, all of the news at this point seems to be encouraging.

In addition to this, the Steelers were one of the healthiest teams coming out of camp. In fact, their only somewhat concerning injury has to do with the availability of All-Pro offensive guard David DeCastro early in the season.

In free agency, Javon Hargrave was Pittsburgh’s only big loss this offseason, but his departure will be masked by the return of Stephon Tuitt – who was having a Pro Bowl-level season before tearing his pectoral muscle in Week 6. In addition, the Steelers filled some holes by bringing in veterans like Eric Ebron, Chris Wormley, and Stefen Wisniewski.

The Steelers also made some post-roster-cut moves to provide additional depth to quarterback and safety by adding former players Josh Dobbs and Sean Davis. They also cut punter Jordan Berry in favor of former Pro Bowl punter, Dustin Colquitt.

On top of all of this, some young players were reported as having surprisingly good camps this year, including rookie players like Chase Claypool, Anthony McFarland, and Alex Highsmith.

Just ahead of the Steelers in the power rankings were the Dallas Cowboys (6th) and Minnesota Vikings (7th). The Bleacher Report panel had Pittsburgh ranked ahead of teams like the Indianapolis Colts (9th), Green Bay Packers (10th), and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (11th) to begin the year.

Power rankings will shift many times throughout the 2020 season, and it’s possible that the Steelers could dip on this list at some point this season. However, after being ranked 8th in the league to start the year, there might not be a lot of analysts sleeping on Pittsburgh right now.