2022 will show Steelers why passing defense should be a priority

The Steelers recently signed safety Minkah Fitzpatrick to a historical contract, and 2022 will show why moves like that are smart.

After careful consideration, the Pittsburgh Steelers have made star Minkah Fitzpatrick the highest-paid safety in NFL history with his recent contract. But even though Fitzpatrick is very much deserving of a hefty payday, some in the media have pondered why he got paid the amount that he did.

Pundits have acknowledged that the NFL is becoming more and more of an offensive game, so the act of going all-out on a defensive talent does leave at least some reasons to be questioned. However, when looking at their 2022 slate, the Steelers are in no position to be greedy when constructing their defensive secondary.

This Fall, Pittsburgh will be encountering a multitude of quarterbacks with well-established arms on their schedule, including Tom Brady, Josh Allen, Matt Ryan, Derek Carr, Jameis Winston, Mac Jones, Joe Burrow (twice), and Lamar Jackson (twice).

Notice how that list doesn’t even have Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson on it, as he is currently in jeopardy of missing a good portion–if not all–of his available game time for this season due to the ongoing investigation regarding his sexual misconduct allegations. But if it weren’t for that, he’d be set to face the Steelers twice as well.

When looking at that array of QB’s, all but one have previously hit Pro Bowler status, two have seen one or more seasons where they threw for over 5000 passing yards, and three have some degree of Super Bowl experience. In other words, it’s a rather star-studded bunch.

That goes without even mentioning the fact that some of those quarterbacks are also surrounded by relatively solid O-line play, helping to water down assistance from the Steelers pass-rush to at least some severity.

There is no way that Pittsburgh can afford to blow too many of those games solely because the opposing passing offenses are too difficult to stop; just by falling in half of the battles where one of those aforementioned talents are present, the Steelers would already have five Sundays sitting in their loss column.

Sure, the Steelers probably shouldn’t be selling their souls for any one player, but especially with the defensive back units already being limited beyond an exceptional one or two, ensuring that Minkah Fitzpatrick sticks around was a top priority when looking at their upcoming schedule—and understandably so.