The Steelers were a playoff team in 2021, but here’s why their questionable QB situation makes them a below-average team in pre-Combine NFL power rankings.
The Steelers have some players to get excited about moving forward. T.J. Watt is approaching legendary status after winning the Defensive Player of the Year award while guys like Minkah Fitzpatrick, Diontae Johnson, Pat Freiermuth, and Najee Harris will be a big part of the future in Pittsburgh.
However, despite what they currently have going for them, Mike Tomlin’s team wasn’t regarded very highly in recent NFL power rankings. FanSided’s NFL Spin Zone recently released their power rankings prior to the NFL Combine, and the Steelers fell in the bottom half of the league as the 17th-best team.
The reasoning was pretty simple: Pittsburgh has a shaky quarterback situation at the moment. Here’s what contributor Randy Gurzi had to say about this ranking:
"17. Pittsburgh SteelersFrom one veteran retirement to another. Ben Roethlisberger also decided it was time to call it a career and for the first time since 2003, the Pittsburgh Steelers will go into the season without No. 7. They do have some in-house options including Mason Rudolph but it feels like he might not be someone they believe in long-term.They should stay competitive as constructed now, but they’re also a team to watch in some of the quarterback musical chairs that could go on. If they improve there, they could contend in the AFC North once again."
This power ranking shouldn’t surprise anyone. In fact, the Steelers probably have a chance to be much lower than this if they do decide to stick with Mason Rudolph for the entire 2022 season. However, signing a free agent or drafting a signal-caller seems likely.
Regardless of which direction they go, it’s hard to place them much higher in power rankings until we see how this plays out. Obviously, if they were to trade for an established player like Russell Wilson or Deshaun Watson, the Steelers would skyrocket up power rankings across all media outlets.
This, however, doesn’t seem like a scenario that will play out. Recently, Tony Pauline of Pro Football Network reported that the Steelers are eyeing a free agent quarterback like Mitch Trubisky, Jameis Winston, or Teddy Bridgewater.
Even if they acquired one of these players, their positioning in power rankings probably wouldn’t change a lot. This isn’t to say that none of them couldn’t be an improvement over a 39-year-old Ben Roethlisberger, but they probably aren’t going to be competing for a Super Bowl anytime soon, and it will still be a struggle to make it into the playoffs.
It’s hard to argue that the Steelers don’t have one of the worst quarterback situations in the league, but that could change if they find the right guy. As of now, it makes sense to place them in the bottom half of the league in NFL power rankings as so much of a team’s success relies on the QB position, and Pittsburgh simply doesn’t have that guy on their roster right now.