4 Steelers heading into a make-or-break season in 2022

The Pittsburgh Steelers have some players who haven’t quite lived up to the hype. Here are four who are entering a make-or-break season in 2022.

The state of the Pittsburgh Steelers is at a turning point. For so long, this team has been able to retain their players and simply reload via the NFL Draft in the offseason. However, there’s a new era on the horizon in Pittsburgh, and Mike Tomlin needs to know who will be part of the long-term plans.

While the Steelers do have a few remarkable players they can build the team around like T.J. Watt, and Minkah Fitzpatrick, others have been riding the fence and need to step up their game soon to show that they can be counted on. Here are four Steelers entering a make-or-break season in 2022:

Steelers WR Chase Claypool

I was extremely excited about Chase Claypool early in his rookie season, as the big wide receiver exploded for some remarkable performances. The former second-round pick was a touchdown machine from the gate, and he was looking like the lone receiver on the team deserving of a second contract.

Fast forward one year, and the buzz around Claypool has almost completely dissipated. While he occasionally will make the spectacular play, the big-bodied wide receiver was wildly inconsistent in his second season 2021 and took a sizeable step back this year.

I am hopeful that the Steelers will be able to get a quarterback who excels at passing the ball down the field and that Claypool will blossom into the player we all thought he could be early on, but his ball skills and tracking ability were questionable this year. Chase Claypool has a huge season ahead of him in 2022 to show that he can be a reliable weapon in Pittsburgh.