Stephon Tuitt
Similar to Hilton, no one was expecting Stephon Tuitt to have a mediocre season. Last year, he was wreaking havoc up until he was injured and lost for a year. Many people were expecting similar results this year, great play but limitations due to injury. Luckily, Tuitt remained healthy this season, and he made opposing offenses pay for it.
Tuitt was second on the team in sacks and was consistently disrupting the play from behind the line of scrimmage. He was easily the best defensive lineman for the Steelers this year, and that is no way a knock on the other players that the team had along the line. Tuitt was a wrecking ball on a weakly basis, and his impressive play was key in the Steelers’ defensive dominance this season.
Better yet, Tuitt remained healthy for the season. While his injuries seemed more like unfortunate timing (he wouldn’t suffer through a few weeks of injuries here or there, it was always a big injury that cost him most of the year). It was a good sign going forward that Tuitt put up a fully healthy season and was as dominant as he was. He is still in his prime, which means he should have quite a few more dominant years left in him.