The Pittsburgh Steelers are one of many NFL’s most illustrious franchises for a motive, as they’ve gained six Tremendous Bowls. Though the Tremendous Bowl isn’t one thing they’ve been near for almost a decade, that doesn’t imply they’re not attempting, based on NFL insider Jeremy Fowler.
“Once I examine with folks in Pittsburgh, all of them say the identical factor,” Fowler mentioned Friday on ESPN’s NFL Dwell. “We try to construct a Tremendous Bowl-winning roster. Whether or not they have a quarterback or not to do this is the query. However across the quarterback, they’ve lots of items.”
The Steelers are in an fascinating scenario. Defensively, issues are safe. They’ve their stars locked into place on that facet of the ball, and so they’re able to win now. Offensively, issues are somewhat totally different. In DK Metcalf and Aaron Rodgers, they’ve two gamers with a historical past of success. Except for them, a lot of that unit is younger and unproven. Practically the complete offensive line is, in addition to their receiving corps with Calvin Austin III and Roman Wilson. They’re even younger within the backfield, with rookie Kaleb Johnson set to tackle a big workload this 12 months.
With an enormous quantity of 2026 draft capital, the Steelers try to win now whereas additionally retooling for the longer term. However how prepared are the Steelers to compete for a Tremendous Bowl this season?
Defensively, it’s actually onerous to be sad. Pittsburgh beefed up its entrance seven, particularly by the draft. Derrick Harmon must be an enormous assist for the inside line of defense, a gaggle that was gashed week in and week out towards the top of final season. Yahya Black will assist cease the run as effectively. Jack Sawyer gives extra youth on the sting, capable of study behind some gifted veterans in entrance of him.
Within the secondary, there’s the potential for achievement, however it’s a gaggle that hasn’t performed collectively a lot. DeShon Elliott and Joey Porter Jr. have expertise collectively. Nonetheless, Darius Slay, Jalen Ramsey and Juan Thornhill are all new additions, and all ought to have a distinguished function this 12 months. They’ll want time to jell, however it must be one of many higher secondaries within the NFL.
A lot of the questions are on the offensive facet of the ball. The road has to guard Rodgers, and even then, Pittsburgh remains to be counting on a 41-year-old quarterback to succeed. That, plus youth on the ability positions, makes this unit onerous to venture.
On the finish of the day, even when they don’t succeed this 12 months, many followers nonetheless received their want. After a string of first-round playoff exits, Pittsburgh clearly modified course this offseason with a number of huge strikes. It could or could not work out, however at the least the Steelers took a unique method searching for a Tremendous Bowl.
