The Pittsburgh Steelers improved throughout the season and fell just short of the playoffs. Here were their five best players from the 2022 season.
Early in the year, the Pittsburgh Steelers were a trainwreck. They were out of sync on both sides of the football and didn’t have many players who seemed to be worth mentioning. Fortunately, they were able to right the ship before sank completely.
Following their Week 9 bye, Mike Tomlin rallied his team to a 7-2 record as his young squad seem to make improvements across the board. Pittsburgh may have fallen short of the playoffs, but several strong individual performances help them climb back into the race late and gave them excellent momentum heading into the offseason.
Due to injuries that slowed them at times, a few prominent names were left off this list, but I fully expect them to return in 2023. Of the rest, here are the five best individual players on the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2022.
5. CB Cameron Sutton
Cameron Sutton has been considered a good player for years, but rarely do we talk about him as a top-five player on the team. Though an injury that forced T.J. Watt to miss half a season helped elevate Sutton to this list for the first time, it’s hard to say that he wasn’t deserving.
Despite shaky and inconsistent cornerback play all around him, Sutton was a shining star in coverage. The savvy veteran doesn’t win with elite size, length or speed; rather, he has remarkable instincts and plus ball skills to make quarterbacks pay.
Sutton finished the 2022 season with career highs in passes defended (15) and interceptions (3) despite playing 15 of 17 games. He was one of the most consistent players on the team this year, and he will soon earn himself a sizable payday for his efforts this past season.
4. WR George Pickens
After watching how dominant George Pickens was at the catch point during his rookie season, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I have him as the fourth-best Pittsburgh Steelers player during the 2022 season. Obviously, the 21-year-old wide receiver still has a long way to go, but what he offered this team was essential to their offense.
While Diontae Johnson and the rest of the wide receiving corps really struggled to be efficient and consistent, Pickens quickly emerged as a bright spot in the receiving game. Despite a stagnant offense, Pickens ranked 13th in the NFL in yards per target (9.5), according to ESPN.
What’s more impressive is that the collection of unspectacular veteran QB Mitch Trubisky and rookie Kenny Pickett had a 109.3 passer rating when targeting him. In comparison, these two combined for a 58.8 passer rating when targeting Diontae Johnson and a 76.6 rating when throwing to Pat Freiermuth.
Pickens was clearly a beast at the catch point and fans felt very confident that he was going to reel in the football if it was within his reach. The young wide receiver still has plenty of work to do as a route-runner, but I think he was the fourth-best overall player on the team in 2022 and the arrow is pointed up.
3. EDGE Alex Highsmith
Some thought that Alex Highsmith should have been named the Pittsburgh Steelers Team MVP after a thoroughly impressive season that included 14.5 sacks. While I think he was as good as anyone could have expected this year, I have him just a bit lower as he claims the third overall spot on my 2022 Steelers player rankings.
Highsmith put up outstanding sack numbers this season and improved his overall game both as a run defender and a pass rusher. He emerged as a staple to this defense in his third NFL season thanks to both his consistency and playmaking ability.
The high-energy pass rusher was all over the field at times and some believed he should have earned Pro Bowl honors for his efforts. My only complaint regarding Highsmith this season is that he still had a relatively poor pass-rush win rate — meaning he wasn’t getting into the backfield frequently enough.
Part of this could be due to the number of snaps he was asked to play and not having T.J. Watt across from him for half of the season. Regardless, I thought Highsmith was brilliant this year, and he deserves to be recognized as one of the best players on the team from the Steelers 2022 season.
2. DL Cameron Heyward
Once again, Cameron Heyward had another spectacular season for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He expressed his frustration with not earning First-Team All-Pro honors in 2022. If not for an incredibly strong group of interior defenders at the top of the list, he probably would have.
Heyward recorded 10.5 sacks for the Steelers this past season as he continued at his impressive pace. He was able to do this despite the absence of T.J. Watt to help alleviate pressure. It’s also worth noting that the rest of the interior defensive line really struggled. This has pretty much been the case since Stephon Tuitt left.
Heyward, however, remains one of the most consistent and imposing players on the team. The veteran leader was a big part of the defensive turnaround in the second half of the season.
Even at 33 years old, Heyward earned the 5th-highest overall grade among interior defenders, according to Pro Football Focus. There’s no reason to expect this to suddenly cease until he actually starts to show signs of slowing down.
1. SAF Minkah Fitzpatrick
The best Pittsburgh Steelers player on the team in 2022 was Minkah Fitzpatrick. After a big of a down year in 2021 that didn’t see nearly as many splash plays, Minkah put every minor worry to rest with arguably the best season of his five-year career.
Fitzpatrick earned a league-leading 6 interceptions to go with 11 total passes defended as well as 94 interception return yards and a defensive touchdown. As a result of his efforts, he was the only Steelers player to earn First-Team All-Pro honors in 2022.
This is now the third time that Minkah has claimed such an honor, and he is currently on a Hall of Fame pace as a result. The spectacular safety was also named as the Steelers Team MVP thanks to his outstanding season.
Nobody should be arguing that he wasn’t deserving of this. The trade that Pittsburgh made for him just before the deadline in 2019 is looking better and better. Minkah Fitzpatrick is a true cornerstone player and the best in the league at his position. He’s going to be an asset to this team for years to come.
T.J. Watt and Pat Freiermuth are my two biggest honorable mentions who didn’t quite make the top five this year, but much of this has to do with missing time. If they can stay healthy, I would expect both to be in the thick of this list in 2023.