Why Steelers offense will get a huge boost after the 2021 NFL Draft

The Steelers were persistent at addressing weaknesses in the NFL Draft, and their offense will be rewarded because of this in 2021. 

For the first time since 2012, when they selected David DeCastro, the Pittsburgh Steelers spent a first-round selection on an offensive player, when they took Najee Harris 24th overall. The last time a skill position player on offense was selected by the team on Day One is even further back, as Rashard Mendenhall was the last time this occurred when he was selected 23rd overall in the 2008 NFL Draft.

However, the Steelers did not stop there as they used each of their first four selections on the offensive side of the ball to bolster the unit around Ben Roethlisberger, in what could be his final season under center in Pittsburgh.

The additions add to an offense that already features Roethlisberger, Eric Ebron, Diontae Johnson, Chase Claypool, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and James Washington. The passing game already showed promise last season with plenty of firepower on the outside, but with the additions in the draft, the hope is the running game will improve from last year’s 32nd ranked 82.5 rushing yards per game, to give the offense some balance. If the running game does improve, this should only open things up even more in the passing game, as teams would now be forced to respect the running game.

RB Najee Harris

While many fans wanted the team to select an offensive lineman in the first round, Kevin Colbert and Mike Tomlin made the correct choice to use its first-round selection on a running back. Though offensive line was a need as well, this year’s draft class featured a class with a lot of depth, particularly at offensive tackle, so the team could afford to wait to use a selection there.

Meanwhile, the running back position was not the same way this year, as there was talent throughout the draft, but there were not many options when it came to a running back who could play all three downs. Harris, Travis Etienne, and Javonte Williams represented the only three backs that project to play all three downs and fill the role of a bell-cow back.

To acquire one of these three, the Steelers had to use their first-round selection on whichever they felt was the best fit or would have had to make a move to trade back in round one and add an extra pick or two in the process. However, the trade is a flawed idea, because there was not necessarily a team willing to part with the capital that it would have taken to move up.