Post-draft power rankings: Where do Steelers rank among the AFC North?

The Steelers and their AFC North foes all had some work to do entering the 2022 NFL Draft. How strong do they look now that it’s all said and done?

At the end of this last NFL season, the AFC North hierarchy seemed rather simple to piece together. However, an entirely new season is brewing, and the…interesting draft that just unfolded may have mixed things up some for this fall.

For reference, the 2021-22 stretch saw the Baltimore Ravens finish last in the division while the Cincinnati Bengals snuck their way into Super Bowl LVI. But as they sit today, the states of those teams may tell a different story in the near future. And as for the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers, they just might be even bigger question marks.

So without further ado, here are the AFC North power rankings following the conclusion of the 2022 NFL Draft.

4th: Pittsburgh Steelers

Boy, that hurts to admit, yet it’s also hard to deny.

Now I think most people are going to read the Steelers being in last place as “their draft was not good,” and that could not be any further from the truth. Pittsburgh did very well with the majority of its selections and should see a noteworthy improvement this Fall.

But nonetheless, the Steelers currently have a lot of uncertainty infused into them when discussing their ability to keep up with the rest of the AFC North long-term. Their draft failed to include a single offensive lineman or cornerback (two big concerns of theirs), and there is still some ambiguity regarding their quarterback situation.

As for the defensive side of things, there should hopefully be a vast improvement in stopping the run combined with an even stronger pass rush than before. Such enhancements would mainly be on the behalves of both the draft haul and the recently-acquired linebacker Myles Jack.

Would that be enough to outweigh an offense that is still heavily struggling to cement its identity, though? It’s hard to tell, and that is why the Pittsburgh Steelers will sit in last place on this list until further notice.