Offseason catastrophes Steelers must avoid in 2023
By Tommy Jaggi
The Pittsburgh Steelers will make every effort to ensure they are competitive in 2023, but here are three offseason catastrophes they must avoid falling into.
Whether you credit the easy schedule in the second half of the 2022 season as the reason why Pittsburgh was successful, it’s easy to see that the Steelers could be a team on the rise. The question then becomes: how much will they improve by next season?
We know Mike Tomlin very well at this point, and the head coach prides himself on being a competitive team year in and year out. That will prove to be the case in 2023 — even with new general managers calling the shots from the front office.
However, we have seen in the past that short-sighted decisions can often lead to mediocrity and no true success (at least not in the post-season). In order to slip away from this trap, here are three offseason catastrophes the Pittsburgh Steelers must avoid in 2023.
3. Steelers must avoid drafting a linebacker in the first round
The Steelers need massive improvements at the off-ball linebacker position. In fact, you could make a strong argument that linebacker is the weakest position on their roster right now. Devin Bush was a colossal disappointment in his fourth NFL season, while Myles Jack and Robert Spillane were greatly underwhelming.
However, their struggles don’t mean that the Steelers should throw their first-round pick in the NFL Draft into another linebacker. They tried this recently and dumping elite capital into a LB really set them back. Obviously, a player like Clemson’s Trenton Simpson would be a big improvement at the position, but history shows that dumping first-round picks into linebackers is not the way to go.
With their elite capital, the Steelers need to be targeting more important cornerstone positions. The best linebackers in the league are day-two picks, and improving the defensive trenches in front of them is what matters more. Pittsburgh can’t get suckered into spending more elite picks at the position.