Coming off of back-to-back 8-8 seasons, the Pittsburgh Steelers have tried to get younger and faster on their roster, especially defensively. Most analysts would say the Steelers have achieved just that over the last two seasons by releasing some of the older players (James Harrison, Ryan Clark, and Brett Keisel) and drafting Ryan Shazier, Stephon Tuitt, and acquiring former Carolina Panthers safety Mike Mitchell.
So that means the Steelers will the better this year right? I’m not sure yet.
There are two sides to re-building an aging team; the team gains speed, youth, and athleticism but loses experience. Ultimately there are more questions than answers with the 2014 Steelers roster. Will the young players like Jarvis Jones and Markus Wheaton for example make the necessary steps in the right direction and make the Steelers better or will they regress and make the Steelers worse? I will do a two-part analysis by position to show whether the Steelers can take the next step forward in 2014 or fall back to a third straight 8-8 season.
Part one, today, will review the Steelers offense while part two will go over the defense.
Steelers Offense
QB: Ben Roethlisberger might still be in the prime of his career coming off of his first season in six years where he started all 16 games. Not having Heath Miller and LeVeon Bell healthy during the first four games of the season definitely contributed to the 0-4 start as well as his erratic QB play. His TD:Int ratio in the first 4 four games was 1:1, while in the last 12 games of the season, his TD:Int ratio was over 2.5:1. The offense as a whole began to play with more consistency and it showed in the QB’s stats. One can never predict injuries and it indeed is the great equalizer. If health permits, Ben will be more consistent and better overall in 2014. Verdict – Better
RB: In 12 games, Bell eclipsed Franco Harris’s rookie record for total yardage at running back. He scored 8 touchdowns and had over 800 yards on the ground. He is big, physical, and surprisingly quick for his size. The Steelers replaced Jonathan Dwyer with LeGarette Blount, another bruising 250-pound back to complement Bell. That is a serious upgrade from Dwyer who never could quite put it all together on a consistent basis. If health permits, the RB stable should be better in 2014. Verdict – Better
WR: The Steelers have plenty of question marks at the receiver position. Emmanuel Sanders and Jerricho Cotchery are no longer with the team. That’s 16 touchdowns worth of production that will be missing from last year. It has been reported that Ben personally talked to Steelers brass to try and keep both receivers. They added Lance Moore who is 5’9”, on the wrong side of 30 and coming off of injury, Darrius Heyward-Bey who never really was able to live up to his sixth overall draft pick status, and draft picks Martevius Bryant and Dri Archer. The Steelers also still have Justin Brown and Derek Moye competing for a roster spot this summer in training camp. The Steelers expect Markus Wheaton to stay healthy and take the next step this season towards becoming a key contributor opposite Antonio Brown. Overall, Antonio Brown and Lance Moore are the only two receivers that have sustained success at the NFL level. Will Markus Wheaton step up? Will Bryant be that big outside target Ben has been clamoring for over the years? Little experience and too many questions lead to the Steelers potentially taking a step back at the receiver position. Verdict – Worse
TE: The tight end group is probably the least talented group on offense. The reason why there are so many tight ends on the roster is not entirely because of Todd Haley having some weird fascination of tight ends, but rather because after Heath Miller, none of the tight ends on the team have proven to be adequate in one aspect of the position: blocking or catching -let alone both. Heath Miller will not be coming off injury this season. Although he is on the wrong side of 30, I expect Heath to be a reliable target for Roethlisberger this season. I think his 2014 statistics will be closer to what he did in 2012 when he had over 800 yards receiving and 8 touchdowns than the 500+ yards and 1 touchdown he had in 2013. Also, Matt Speath will go back to being the number 2 tight end, hopefully helping the offensive line open up running lanes for Bell and Blount. Can the rookie tight end Rob Blanchflower be able to push David Paulson or Michael Palmer off of the roster? His blocking will have to stand out for him to have a chance. Overall, the success of the tight ends overall will largely depend on Heath Miller’s production. If Heath can stay healthy, the tight end production will slightly improve in 2014. Verdict – Better
OL: This is a group that the Steelers invested a lot of time, coaching, and high draft picks to over the past 5 seasons. While there are some definite positives, there are still some glaring weaknesses. This group simply lacks a blue chip left tackle to protect Ben’s blindside. Although Kelvin Beachum played admirably in his starts last season, he was average at best in run blocking and I question his ability to play at a high level over the course of 16+ games. The Ramon Foster, Maurkice Pouncey, David DeCastro interior offensive line is good enough to win championship with when you think about what Ben has actually won with before. Marcus Gilbert is a poor tackle. He does nothing well overall. Mike Adams can be the guy to supplant Gilbert at right tackle given he takes to the coaching of the offensive line’s biggest X-factor, Mike Munchak. The former offensive line coach and Hall of Fame offensive guard has had the reputation of getting the absolute best out of the linemen he is coaching. He will have a positive impact on the Steelers offensive linemen by not only helping them become more technically sound, but also playing to their strengths. Will Munchak make this unit the 1993 Cowboys offensive line? Of course not. He is not a miracle worker, but his expertise and pedigree will only have a positive effect on the offensive line. Also, his presence will give some insight to the coaching staff, front office, and the fans if the high draft picks spent on the offensive line recently were made on poor players or if the coaching the past few years hindered the development of the overall talent of this group. Overall, I expect the unit to be better than it was in 2013. Verdict: Better
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