With the Steelers set to open their season against the Bills, here are the six players with the most to prove in this game.
The Pittsburgh Steelers had an up-and-down offseason, but it has all culminated into what happens this Sunday when the team takes on the Buffalo Bills for the 2021 regular-season kickoff.
While the experts are unsurprisingly favoring the Bills, Pittsburgh should still be competitive, given the talent it has all-around.
That said, some starters still face questions as they enter the new year, and Week 1 will be a prime time for them to provide answers.
Here are the six Steelers with major questions to answer with the regular season kicking off.
Steelers Cornerback James Pierre
One of the Steelers’ biggest sleepers entering camp was James Pierre. The former undrafted cornerback was a surprise roster keep last year, and he worked his way up the depth chart until, by the end of the season, he was the next man up at the position. Many were excited to see what he could do with a full offseason under his belt, and he didn’t disappoint. He was consistently showing up in training camp and challenging receivers. He was arguably the best cornerback on the team in practice, and he has rightfully earned a role on this defense.
That all said, he has yet to do anything in an actual game to indicate that he is ready to take on a starting role.
That all changes this week against a formidable passing offense. Pierre will have to rise up and play as he did in camp. He has competition in Ahkello Witherspoon already, so he needs to keep up his solid play to maintain his role.
Week 1 is all about proving Pierre is more than just a camp darling. He needs to prove that he can be a starting cornerback in this league.
Steelers Offensive Tackle Dan Moore
When the Steelers selected Dan Moore in the fourth round of the NFL Draft, almost everyone was expecting him to be a developmental player who essentially red-shirted his rookie year. Once training camp began, though, he quickly began working his way up the depth chart.
While he had a slow start, he quickly rebounded and was one of the best tackles the team had. He performed well in both practice and preseason games, as well as showing talent as both a run and pass blocker.
Now, Moore finds himself as the team’s starting left tackle heading into Week 1.
This is quite the jump from what was expected, and it will be a huge task for him considering his rookie status. While the same could be said for fellow rookie Kendrick Green, he was mostly expected to be the starter heading into Week 1, given the lack of quality center options on the team. Moore surprised in camp, though, to get this spot, and now he has to show that it wasn’t a fluke.
Long term, this could have huge roster ramifications. If Moore looks like a similar player as his preseason self, he could lock down the left tackle position for the season, not just until Zach Banner returns from injury. Even if Moore can’t be a full-time starter year one, a strong showing now could make him a front runner to be a starter by 2022.
He has been given a rare opportunity due to his solid play, and it is one he will have to take advantage of this year.
Steelers Defensive Back Cameron Sutton
One of the Steelers’ best surprises, Cameron Sutton is now poised to see his role greatly expand with the team. While he had carved out a niche role in dime defense, Sutton ended up playing all over the secondary due to injuries. He put together a strong season and was rewarded during the offseason. He re-signed with the team and is now expected to start at both outside cornerback and kick inside to the slot when needed.
While his play over the past few seasons was good, he has never played an entire season as a conventional starter. Now, he will be facing the team’s top receivers week in and week out. As well, he will have to be prepared to face multiple types of receivers as he will still be tasked with covering the slot player. While Sutton has the talent and football intelligence to do this, it will be telling how well he ends up doing after a full season as a starter.
His first test, the Bills, certainly isn’t an easy one. Their passing game is dynamic, and anytime he is covering Stefon Diggs will be a challenge.
The Steelers have high hopes for the former third-round pick, and rightfully so, but Sutton needs to show that he can be a true starter for a full season.
That starts in Week 1, as he needs to excel for Pittsburgh against a talented Bills offense.
Steelers Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger
Every name on this list to this point is some sort of young and relatively inexperienced player.
Ben Roethlisberger, on the other hand, is one of the oldest players in the league.
That said, after struggling in the latter half of the season last year, he needs to show both the Steelers and the NFL he still has enough in the tank to be a talented quarterback. As of now, most fans are writing him off, but a strong start to the season could easily change that narrative.
The Bills won’t make that easy, though, as they boast one of the league’s best secondaries. That said, Roethlisberger succeeding in Week 1 can’t be solely due to his arm. He needs to lead a balanced offense given the investments made in there this offseason. He can’t be throwing the ball 40 to 50 times every week, as at his age, it simply won’t work anymore. He needs to revert more to his early years, where he allowed a strong rushing game and defense to win games, not just his talent alone.
Luckily, he enters the year with one of the deepest stables of receivers in the league. Mix in an upgrade in the backfield, and Roethlisberger should have plenty of weapons to choose from.
The offensive line is an issue, and it is one that will affect the overall game of Roethlisberger, but there is enough talent elsewhere to compensate for that.
That all said, if Roethlisberger struggles in Week 1, the narrative will be about how he doesn’t have it anymore. He needs a strong start to the season to silence those that are questioning if he can still play.
Steelers Defensive Lineman Alex Highsmith
Easily one of, if not the biggest camp winners for the Steelers, Alex Highsmith enters this season with extremely high expectations. While many were expecting a good year from the second-year player, no one was expecting the jump he seemingly made. Highsmith was nearly unblockable in camp, as both Steelers’ tackles and tackles from the opposing team were consistently losing to him in pass-rushing reps.
The team had signed Melvin Ingram as insurance, but it appears as though they may not need it with how Highsmith has been playing. That all said, he now has to show that his improvements in camp will translate to the field.
There have been countless times where a player did well in camp only to disappear once the regular season began. While Highsmith arguably had the best camp of any Pittsburgh player in recent history, he still has to prove that he can translate that onto gameday.
His first test will be the Bills, who boast a good-not-great offensive line. With the Steelers having a capable edge threat across from him, expect Highsmith to thrive. If not, then perhaps his camp was more a flash in the pan than anything else.
I expect the opposite, though, as Highsmith was impressive as a rookie and the expectation should be that he makes the jump to quality NFL starter this season.
Steelers Running Back Najee Harris
One of the biggest downfalls for the Steelers last season was their pitiful rushing attack. Week in and week out, the team couldn’t get their ground game going, and as a result, it became a passing-only type of offense.
The team drafted Najee Harris in the first round of the draft to change that.
While he has looked good in training camp and in the preseason, he needs to be able to produce against a starting defense in the NFL. His offensive line certainly won’t help him out, but as a first-round running back, he has to be able to overcome that. If the Steelers believed they needed a better line to run the ball, that should have been their first-round pick.
Instead, Harris has to show that he can make plays on his own.
No, this doesn’t mean he needs an obscene yards-per-carry number, but he has to push the pile forward, make some people miss, and pick up the hard yards when needed.
While Harris appears to have the talent to succeed in that role, he has to prove that he is talented enough as a runner to succeed despite a mediocre line. While Week 1 won’t make or break him, if he continues to struggle to produce on his own, it will certainly call his first-round draft status into question.
Again, he doesn’t need to go off, but he needs to be efficient and pick up tough yards when needed. If he can’t do that, questions will swell up as to why the team took him as early as they did.
While the first game of the year doesn’t define a season, the Steelers will need to put up a good showing to silence some critics. These six players in particular need to answer some personal questions about their play when the team faces the Bills in Week 1.
Doing so will help set the narrative for the 2021 season.