It’s been fairly a busy offseason for the Pittsburgh Steelers, with contemporary faces showing at a number of positions throughout the roster. Nonetheless, they haven’t actually improved a lot. Regardless of preserving most of the identical gamers they received 10 video games with final 12 months, Chris Brockman with The Wealthy Eisen Present isn’t inspired by the staff’s roster heading into 2025. On Wednesday, Brockman included them in his ‘powerless rankings’ and listed them the Twenty eighth-best staff within the league.
“[No.] 28 is the Steelers,” Brockman mentioned. “They’re not good, they’re going to be fairly dangerous. They usually actually have to be bad-bad. They should backside out and begin over.”
It’s not essentially a brand new factor for analysts to be pessimistic concerning the Steelers through the summer time. Usually, they arrive into the 12 months with out vital enhancements and obtain low expectations. Pittsburgh often surpasses these expectations, with 2024 being a superb instance. Not many had been excessive on the staff’s potential going into the season, and though issues fell aside on the finish, their 10-3 begin to the 12 months was spectacular.
Nonetheless, this 12 months’s expectations really feel extra excessive than most. The Steelers have obtained even worse than Twenty eighth this offseason, as they had been listed thirtieth in energy rankings from Fox Sports activities just lately. Wanting on the Steelers’ roster in the intervening time, it’s truthful to be pessimistic.
The most important subject is the quarterback place, which stays an enormous query mark till Aaron Rodgers comes to a decision. The Steelers nonetheless, as they at all times have, really feel like his finest spot. Nonetheless, he’s not doing them any favors by dragging this out for thus lengthy. At this level, some are beginning to query whether or not Rodgers is even the reply for the Steelers anymore.
Talking with Brockman, Andrew Siciliano, who’s filling in because the host for Eisen, thinks Will Howard needs to be the reply if not Rodgers.
“If it isn’t Aaron, it needs to be Will Howard,” Siciliano mentioned.
There’s a probability that Howard takes some significant snaps in 2025, particularly if Rodgers doesn’t signal. Having him begin the season appears extraordinarily unlikely, although. It’s uncommon for sixth-round quarterbacks even to see the sphere of their rookie 12 months, not to mention earn a beginning function. With Mason Rudolph’s familiarity with the franchise, he’d step into that function, barring an unlucky damage.
Brockman made the purpose that the Steelers needs to be dangerous, for their very own good. It’s turn into clear that they’re utilizing the 2026 NFL Draft as an opportunity to draft that quarterback. Only for the sake of imagining, wouldn’t it be the worst factor on the planet if Howard had been to begin?
If issues work out, that’s a fantastic worth with a sixth-round decide. In the event that they don’t work out, which is definitely extra doubtless, then the Steelers no less than received an opportunity to see what’s already of their quarterback room. They’d even have the next draft decide subsequent 12 months and fewer issue discovering a quarterback.
Both approach, the Steelers’ roster isn’t in excessive regard this offseason. A lot of the motive for that’s their lack of a quarterback. Till there’s an answer, it’s going to be onerous for analysts like Brockman to begin feeling extra optimistic about Pittsburgh.
