The Steelers have a plethora of talented, young players on their roster. Here are their best six players to build a future team around.
Through the first ten weeks of the 2020 NFL season, the Pittsburgh Steelers are 9-0 and are the only remaining undefeated team in the league. Despite the return of Ben Roethlisberger, there isn’t a soul out there who would have predicted they would be here at this point. Mike Tomlin’s team is clearly legitimate, and they have a strong chance to contend for a Super Bowl this year.
While the Steelers could lose some talented players in the offseason, their chances of remaining as a top contender go as Ben Roethlisberger does. Like all good things, however, his time in the league is nearing its end as he will be 39 years old in March. When he does decide to call it quits, Pittsburgh could be entering a bit of a rebuilding phase.
Fortunately, they are already off to a pretty good start in terms of landing some talented, young football players. Here are the six best players to build a team around when Ben Roethlisberger hangs his hat:
6. DL Stephon Tuitt
Stephon Tuitt seems like he’s been in the league forever now. He was taken by the Steelers in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft alongside players like Ryan Shazier and Martavis Brynat. Though he is already a seasoned veteran to this point, it’s worth noting that Tuitt is still just 27 years old, as the big defensive lineman was one of the youngest players to enter the league in quite some time.
Though there are younger players on the Steelers who could stick around longer, Tuitt is already a very established cornerstone piece to this team, and he’s playing like an All-Pro in 2020. If his laundry list of injuries are now behind him, he could play his best football in his late 20’s and into his 30’s – almost exactly like Cameron Heward has done with this team.
5. WR Diontae Johnson
Spoiler alert: JuJu Smith-Schuster just missed the cut for me on this list. While he is still a very young and consistent receiver, it’s unlikely that he’s able to return to Pittsburgh on a lucrative new deal this offseason, as Pittsburgh just doesn’t have the funds. Even if he does manage to return, Roethlisberger has found favor throwing to Diontae Johnson.
While Johnson certainly has had his ups and downs early in his NFL career, it’s not hard to see why Ben looks his direction so often. Johnson creates tons of separation in and out of his breaks, and his ability to make defenders miss after the catch is something that very few players in the NFL can offer. Roethlisberger knows that all he has to do is get the ball to Johnson in space and he is going to make him look good.
Through the first 9 games of the season, Johnson has the highest target rate when he is on the field and he trails only JuJu by 5 targets despite missing almost two-and-a-half games of action, collectively. While Johnson’s time in Pittsburgh is going to outlast Big Ben, whoever the quarterback is after him will have the same reasons to love Johnson. He could be a very good receiver for a long time. Just get him the ball and let him work.
4. LB Devin Bush
This is the one player on this list that I would really like to see more of, and there is a chance that he doesn’t quite turn out to be the player many thought he would. However, Devin Bush is a thoroughly talented football player and could be an excellent building block on the Steelers.
Still just 22 years old, Bush seemed to make strides in each game he played in. While the takeaways weren’t there for him this year before an ACL tear ended his second NFL season early, his ability to play well on all three downs is going to be a huge asset to this team.
Linebackers that run 4.43 don’t grow on trees, and his athletic makeup, age, and college pedigree make him one of the most interesting linebackers in the NFL. Obviously, Bush isn’t guaranteed to turn out to be a superstar, but he has the traits and the third-down ability required to be one of the best linebackers in the league someday. Who knows? He may have another decade of football to give this team, and I wouldn’t be at all shocked if that included several Pro Bowl seasons.
3. FS Minkah Fitzpatrick
Last year, Minkah Fitzpatrick would have been number two on this list, without question. However, there have been some new developments and a player who can’t be ignored. While hasn’t made the same amount of splash plays he had by this point last year, Fitzpatrick is still a very good football player who has the ability to take the ball away on any given play.
After earning first-team All-Pro honors as a 23-year-old last season, Minkah has some lofty expectations to live up to. Like running backs, many teams choose to cycle through their safeties instead of forking up big contracts to them. Unfortunately, Fitzpatrick will be among the highest-paid safeties in the league when he gets his new deal, but he should be worth it.
After just turning 24 years old, Fitzpatrick has a long and promising career ahead of him and he could be a dangerous playmaker at the safety position for a long time. He’s a pivotal piece to this talented defense, and cornerstone player the Steelers must continue to build around after Roethlisberger is gone.
2. WR Chase Claypool
A year ago, there’s no way that I would have thought I would be including two wide receivers on this list of players to build around and not having JuJu Smith-Schuster as one of them. Yet, here we stand. Though it is still very early in his NFL career, it’s hard to argue against having Chase Claypool as the second most valuable future building block to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Through his first 9 games in the league, Claypool has managed an eye-popping 9 touchdowns (7 receiving, 2 rushing). If not for the stellar play of some impressive rookie quarterbacks this year, Claypool would no doubt have a legitimate shot at securing Defensive Player of the Year honors. But regardless of whether or not he is credited with something like this, Steelers fans can see just how good this kid is going to be.
Claypool turned just 22 years old before the season and, while the comparison originally seemed unreasonable, he’s on pace to crush Calvin Johnson’s rookie receiving numbers. With an elite combination of size, speed, and athleticism to go with a massive catch radius and spectacular ball skills, I think Chase Claypool is the second-most valuable building block on this entire team.
1. EDGE T.J. Watt
If you ever had to pause to think about who the number one spot should go to, you haven’t been watching T.J. Watt closely enough. On seemingly every defensive snap, my eyes are always glued to Watt, as he is so impressive with what he is able to do as a pass rusher.
Watt has made major strides in each of his first three seasons in the NFL, and there are zero reasons to think that he will show any regression. Despite turning just 26 years old last month, Watt was already a Defensive Player of the Year candidate last season and is sure to be on that list this year – possibly even win.
It’s now safe to say that T.J. Watt is following in the footsteps of his big brother, who will go down as one of the best players to ever play in the National Football League. T.J. Watt should earn several more All-Pro seasons throughout his career and is a safe bet to go down as a Hall-of-Famer as long as injuries don’t derail an extremely promising career. He will be a force on defense for years to come.
All in all, the Steelers have a handful of young players they could build around in the future, and several of them could turn into legitimate stars in this league. With Ben Roethlisberger earning his final days, it’s assuring to know that we will be in good hands when he’s gone.