4 former Steelers that the team will miss the most in 2021

Steelers Alejandro Villanueva joins the Ravens

Alejandro Villanueva got a really unfair wrap while he was with the Steelers. The former undrafted veteran transformed himself, learned an entirely new position, and became a quality starter for a competitive team. Was he a perfect player? No, but his pass blocking was good and he was serviceable in the run game. While there are better options than him in the league, the team doesn’t currently possess one on their roster.

As of now, Chukwuma Okorafor will be his replacement at left tackle, and while he wasn’t horrible last year, he is certainly a drop-off from the player that Villanueva was. Zach Banner has some potential, but he is still a question mark considering he only started half a game last season for the Steelers. Losing Villanueva this offseason made this line worse overall. That isn’t something you want with an aging quarterback likely in his final season.

Worse yet, Villanueva heads to the division rival Ravens, who acquired him after trading Orlando Brown to the Chiefs. If that wasn’t enough, the Ravens played the comp formula perfectly, waiting until the deadline passed for players to factor in, so the Steelers won’t receive a pick next year despite losing their starting left tackle. This new-look offensive line has some intriguing players on it, but it still lost a good quality starting left tackle.