Every Steelers player ranked by tiers entering the 2023 offseason

Steelers Tier 4: Young and rising

Kenny Pickett, Jalen Warren, Connor Heyward

In tier 4, I have three players who are young and on the rise. This doesn’t necessarily make them worse than the veterans listed in tier 3, but they deserved their own category due to their lack of NFL experience. These three rookies didn’t see the field to start the year but played as well as we could have hoped down the stretch.

Kenny Pickett struggled after being thrust into action in the second half against the New York Jets and was forced to play a very difficult schedule before the bye. While we never saw elite numbers from him, Pickett did a better job of executing the game plan since the bye week as he led his team to a 7-2 record during this span. Obviously, he still has plenty to work on, but he shows some promise here.

Jaylen Warren was the biggest surprise for the Pittsburgh Steelers during the 2022 season. The undrafted running back proved to be every bit as efficient as their former first-round running back, and was impressive as a receiver out of the backfield. Warren may have a chance to develop into one of the better backup running backs in the league at this rate.

Meanwhile, the Steelers got the most out of their sixth-round pick, Connor Heyward. Though the sample on offense was relatively small, he was more efficient than any pass-catcher outside of George Pickens. Heyward will play a fairly big role for this team moving forward.