Here are the five Steelers who had the most disappointing seasons in 2020
While it is hard to be disappointed with a 12-4 record, the way the Steelers finished off the season certainly left a lot to be desired. Despite an 11-0 start, the team floundered to a 1-5 finish and an early exit from the playoffs. While there were plenty of players that overachieved this year, there were still quite a few that didn’t.
Here are the five Steelers that had the most disappointing 2020 seasons.
Benny Snell
Expectations were relatively high for the second year back entering this season. Benny Snell had flashed a brutal running style in his rookie year and looked the part of a bell-cow back. While he didn’t start the first game, he did end up with over 100 yards rushing and had fans clamoring for him to be named the starter. Unfortunately, the week one opener was his highlight of the season.
While Snell found some success on the goal line, he never became a true starter for the team. Even worse, while he did score four times, he proved to be a mediocre short-yardage back. The team as a whole is to blame there, but Snell is still partially at fault for just how bad this team was at picking up short-yardage first downs. While he will likely be at the top of the depth chart come training camp, the team will more than likely invest heavily in a new starting back. Snell will resume his role as a goal-line and backup option, but he blew his chance in 2020 to provide hope that he could be more.
Ulysses Gilbert
Coming into the new season, there was a lot of excitement over the potential number three starting inside linebacker Ulysees Gilbert. The Steelers had little in terms of back-ups, meaning that Gilbert was the favorite to be the top depth option at inside linebacker as well as a core special teams’ option. Those ideas quickly changed when he struggled to get on the field early in the year as the Steelers opted to dress Robert Spillane over Gilbert.
While he did eventually make his way onto the field, his play wasn’t anything noteworthy. While he was far from a liability, his limited playtime coupled with the team’s favor of Spillane was pretty damaging. Then, he suffered yet another season-ending injury. This makes it both his rookie and sophomore year that he ended the season on injured reserve, a bead trend for a player about to begin his third year.
While Gilbert flashed as a rookie during preseason and while on special teams, he clearly isn’t a top option for this depth chart. Add in his early injury issues and he suddenly becomes a player that the team can’t rely on. While he will certainly be brought into camp next year, he will need a strong preseason to remain on this roster. 2020 looked like he could be a breakout player, but now he will just simply be a player fighting to make a roster in 2021.
James Conner
While Snell had his struggles as a reserve, the issues weren’t much better with starter James Conner in terms of running the ball. As with Snell, he doesn’t deserve all of the blame, as the offensive play calling and blocking were putrid, but Conner does still deserve some of the blame. While he had an overall better year than Snell, there was certainly a lot to be desired from his 2020 season.
Arguably the worst thing about the season was the fact that it started off so well for Conner. Besides the first game, he was a vital piece to the team’s offensive success early on. While a lot of his yards came in chunks, he was still consistently getting four-five yards a carry which allowed the offense to be more balanced. Suddenly, that stopped, and the Steelers began to pass early and often instead.
Conner is likely heading to a new team in 2021, and it may just be best for him. While he does have some injury concerns, he proved in 2020 that he can shoulder the load. A new scheme and a team that is more willing to use him should aid in him getting closer to his 2018 form. While it wasn’t all his fault. His 2020 season with the Steelers was a disappointment.
Olasunkanmi Adeniyi
While it was a positive to see Olasunkanmi Adeniyi see some considerable defensive snaps, his overall season wasn’t anything to write home about. He did get on the field for 144 snaps on defense, but he failed to log a snap. He did have a few good plays, but his failure to make an impact as a pass rusher was less than ideal.
The worst part of his season was how quickly he lost his rotational spot to Alex Highsmith. It seemed as if he and Highsmith were set to rotate evenly this season as reserve pass rushers, but that quickly ended as Highsmith took over as the top reserve. A part of that was obviously due to Highsmith succeeding so early, it still wasn’t a good sign for Adeniyi’s future with the Steelers.
While his roster spot is pretty secure going into 2021, he may be entering his final year or so with the team. The Steelers clearly don’t see him as a starter material, and they won’t invest significant money into a backup. There was a lot of hope that Adeniyi would take that next step this year, but it didn’t happen. It shouldn’t hurt the team in the long term, but it was disappointing to see him not make that leap.
JuJu Smith-Schuster
Out of everyone on this list, this one is definitely the most relative. While JuJu Smith-Schuster did lead the Steelers in receptions, he seemingly made the least out of his opportunities. Despite catching 97 passes, he failed to record over 850 yards through the air. For a player that is likely going to be commending top money this offseason, his mediocre season was certainly a disappointment considering he was already coming off a rough year in 2019.
There was real hope for a rebound, and while Smith-Schuster did post better stats, it wasn’t anything close to the year that he had earlier in his career. His 8.6 yards per reception was on par with a good receiving running back, and it was hard to sit through some of his four reception, 20-yard games. While he did score nine times, his overall success as a receiver was well below what most fans thought he would be at.
This wasn’t entirely Smith-Schuster’s fault, as the Steelers had their receivers run extremely short routes for most of the year. In fact, most of the yards he did get after the catch were tough and physical ones, which is a testament to his ability to be a physical threat as a receiver. As well, Smith-Schuster is always willing to block for others as well as being a good team player. He isn’t a player you should want to lose but given the tough financial situation and how poorly the Steelers used him in 2020 and it seems likely he leaves. While he had a rebound year, it still fell well short of the expectations that fans had going into the season.
While the Steelers were one of the better teams in 2020, there were still quite a few players that fell short of expectations. Their disappointment was due to a variety of reasons, but by the end of the season, each of the above needed to do a little more. For those that are still on the team in 2021, hopefully, they can find a way to rebound.