5 Steelers Legends we wish we could bring back in their prime in 2023

#5 Rod Woodson, Cornerback

Face it, the Steelers had some bad teams in the '80s. Chuck Noll struggled to rebuild the team after all his Players from the '70s retired. In 1987 he drafted that one player, which helped in rebuilding the team. Not so much for Noll himself, but an integral defensive piece for Bill Cowher when he took over in 1992. Rod Woodson was to Steelers in the late '80's what Mel Blount was to the Steelers in the '70s. Rod Woodson was a tough cornerback with blazing speed. With the Steelers alone, he had 71 interceptions and five picks for a touchdown.

While sure, you could opt for Mel Bount in this slot, which would work, but you must go with Rod in this spot because of his speed. Not only did his speed make him a great cover corner, but it also gives us some versatility here. First, add him to a defensive secondary with Patrick Peterson and Minkah Fitzpatrick. Then you have rookies Joey Porter Jr. and Corey Trice. With the addition of Woodson with his ability, what side of the field do opponents throw to? There is not a spot the opposition can throw in which each pass could be intercepted or broken up.

Secondly, adding Woodson is complementary to T.J. Watt. With his ability to get to the quarterback and make them scramble, you get errant throws. If the quarterback has to rush his passes, this is not the secondary to try to do that; the quarterback would be better throwing it out of bounds. Or the other side and the Steelers sack rate goes up because there are no open receivers down the field.     

The final reason that makes Woodson the one player to propel the Steelers to the Superbowl is besides playing in the secondary, his speed made him a dependable kick returner. With the Steelers, he had 477 kick and punt returns for 7256 yards and four touchdowns; thus, he improves the secondary and the special teams. It's the one thing you would not be getting adding Mel Blount here.

One last thing to keep in mind. While adding Woodson wouldn't improve the offense, it helps the offense. Pickett may not have the season we want, or Broderick Jones is not as good as we hoped. The upshot here is that the Steelers defense will not allow the opposition many scoring opportunities. Thus it's not like the Steelers offense would have to score 25 or 30 points a game. They could easily win with 16 or 20 points. They would not have to be a scoring juggernaut.