Steelers uninspiring 2024 roster hardly has the look of a champion

Well, it's all over but the shouting, so to speak. The 2024 Steelers roster is set, for the most part, and is ready to embark on the journey that will tell the tale of this team for this season. I have to tell you that I am gravely concerned about the end point of said journey.

The reason, or at least part of the reason, I am gravely concerned is this: my Steelers journey started with Super Bowl X. While I have vague recollections of the game (I was one month shy of my seventh birthday), I do have a vivid memory of the infamous Lynn Swann acrobatic catch.

Being a fan of the Steelers during the Super Bowl years, living through the terrible, at least in my opinion, decade of the 1980s, and then seeing the resurgence of the 1990s, I can honestly say that this team, as it is currently constructed, does not have the look of a champion.

The Steelers have more questions than answers on the offensive side of the ball

Let's talk about the 'elephant in the room' right out of the gate. Our quarterback situation is not good, to say the least. A trio of Russell Wilson, Justin Fields, and Kyle Allen is underwhelming, at least as far as I'm concerned. I would not be at all surprised if Allen ends up playing the last few games of the season.

Let's put this into perspective. We have a new offensive coordinator in Arthur Smith. We have three new quarterbacks who are trying to learn Smith's system which looked absolutely terrible in the preseason but should resemble an offshoot of the Erhardt-Perkins system, but I digress.

We also have a fairly new combination of offensive linemen who, frankly, did not play well in the preseason. Broderick Jones, our former first-round pick in 2023, a career left tackle, who could not beat out Dan Moore, Jr. for the starting left tackle spot, played inconsistently at right tackle and could take a back set to both Moore Jr. and Troy Fautanu.

What does that say about us as an organization? We drafted two career college left tackles in back to back drafts becasue one could not win the starting job the previous year and we are now expecting both players to play on the right side or both sides if need be.

I won't completely blame Jones or Fautanu if either one plays poorly. Mike Tomlin has always said we want to put our players in positions to succeed. How is this putting them in positions to succeed? I will answer that question as succinctly as possible. It is not putting them in positions to succeed.

Another huge question mark is at wide receiver. Except for George Pickens, the rest of the wide receiving corps is suspect, at best. Our tight end situation isn't much better. Similar to our wide receivers, Pat Freiermuth is the only proven tight end on the roster.

Darnell Washington, our third-round pick in 2023, caught seven passes for sixty-one yards in 2023. We have no idea what MyCole Pruitt will bring to the table, as it were. So, like I said earlier in the discussion, we have more questions than answers.

The Steelers defense may have to play near-perfect football in order to save the 2024 season

In 2023, the Steelers defense ranked twenty-first in total yards allowed. For reference, for six seasons during the decade of the 1990s, the defense finished in the top ten in total yards allowed despite the offense cracking the top ten only twice in points scored. The 2023 Steelers offense finished twenty-eighth in points scored.

During the '90s, we made the playoffs consistently, culminating in one Super Bowl appearance. Despite the result of that appearance, the '90s will always be remembered, at least for me, as a decade of success that fielded some of the best defenses in Steelers history.

I fear the 2024 iteration of the Steelers defense will have to play 'lights out' in most games in order to give us a reasonably good chance to secure victory. I believe we have fewer questions on the defensive side of the ball than we do on the offensive side of the ball.

I think the only question marks on defense may be at cornerback and safety, but since 'rush and coverage' go hand-in-hand, if we can generate consistent pressure, the DBs won't have to cover for too long.

The Steelers may be heading for a losing campaign in 2024

I will wrap up our discussion by saying this: I am a supporter of Mike Tomlin, but I am not an apologist for Mike Tomlin. It is a tremendous distinction for Tomlin and for the Steelers organization that we have never had a losing season since Tomlin has been our head coach.

I really do appreciate that feat and have tremendous respect for Tomlin as a result. The flip side of that is the fact that we have won only eight playoff games since 2007 and have not won a playoff game since 2016.

I realize some organizations would be estactic with those results but we are the Steelers. We are the team that won four Super Bowls in the span of six years. We won back-to-back Super Bowls twice, but we have not won a Super Bowl since the 2008 season.

Does this roster inspire confidence or concern? Does this roster have the look of a champion? As with most topics we discuss, only time will tell. I just hope that when all is said and done, we are discussing how wrong I was about the 2024 Steelers.