4 players who will make or break the Steelers 2021 season

Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger

As I have already discussed here, I expect Ben Roethlisberger to be a much more effective QB in 2021 for many reasons, but how effective he can be is the biggest question the Steelers face. The Steelers offense has all the skill position talent it needs to be a top-10 unit, but question marks on the offensive line and what Ben has left to give make it hard to evaluate their potential.

Ben clearly believes he has more to give this team, and his comments so far during OTA’s suggest he is willing to learn the new offense being implemented by Matt Canada. If Ben really is excited (or at least willing) to run the new offense, we could see an entirely different version of Ben this year. That is the only way I see this offense finishing in the top half of the league.

Just like every other team in the NFL, the Steeler’s ceiling as a team will be heavily tied to the play of their QB. Despite the understandable pessimism, Ben still has enough left in the tank if he buys into what Canada wants the offense to be. I don’t see him being an elite QB ever again, but he doesn’t have to be with the talent around him.

The Steelers need all four of these players to be at their best in 2021 to have a chance to be championship contenders, especially if they don’t add more talent before the season. Even if they do, if one or more of these players have a disappointing season I can’t see them competing with the top teams in the AFC with the amount of talent they have lost.