The 2020 Pittsburgh Steelers feature an interesting mix of veteran leadership and young talent. For every Ben Roethlisberger, Maurkice Pouncey, or Cameron Heyward, there’s a JuJu Smith-Schuster, Minkah Fitzpatrick, or Devin Bush. Top to bottom, there is a lot of talent on this Steelers roster. Their solid group of 2019 draft picks will look to make a big impact again in 2020. Led by Bush, this young group of players should see an expanded role and appear poised to make the most of the opportunity.
Devin Bush Leads Second-Year Pittsburgh Steelers
Expanded Role for Devin Bush
Due to the plethora of talent the Steelers have on defense, Devin Bush flew under the radar in 2019. T.J. Watt, Heyward, and Fitzpatrick stole a lot of the spotlight. His play as a rookie was good enough to land Bush a third place finish in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting. Last year, Bush played well enough to justify the trade Pittsburgh made to draft him tenth overall. This year, he should be even better. At the very least, he’ll see increased opportunities and will be fully integrated into the defense.
Bush played 82% of Pittsburgh’s defensive snaps last year. As long as he stays healthy, there’s a good chance that number will increase to 100% this year. The biggest area Bush will need to improve is in pass coverage. His numbers in pass coverage weren’t great last year, and neither was his tape. With Mark Barron gone, Bush won’t be able to come off the field, even in obvious passing situations. He’ll almost certainly be the team’s defensive signal caller. As he continues to be left out of the spotlight, look for Devin Bush to make a bigger impact in 2020.
What to Expect from Johnson
Diontae Johnson had a very impressive rookie campaign. Despite all the issues Pittsburgh dealt with at quarterback, Johnson’s production was strong. He led the team (and all rookie wide receivers in the NFL) in receptions and was second on the team in receiving yards. Johnson’s work as a punt returner was good enough to earn him an All-Pro selection, too.
Looking ahead to this season, it’s hard to project Johnson’s numbers. First, he has only ever played six quarters of football with Roethlisberger. Until the two further build their chemistry, Johnson might not see the volume of targets that he saw last year. Along with that, with Smith-Schuster being back and healthy, Johnson won’t have to be the team’s number one receiving option. So, there’s no good way to predict how Johnson will perform statistically this year. But, the Steelers total production from wide receivers should be way higher than last year, and Johnson will account for a big chunk of that. His elite route-running and YAC abilities make him a tough matchup aside Smith-Schuster and James Washington.
Benny Snell
The Steelers running back situation is an interesting one to monitor. James Conner is definitively their workhorse when he’s healthy. Unfortunately, he has struggled to stay healthy. Last year when Conner was dealing with injuries, Benny Snell stepped up and managed the workload well. Along with the presence of Snell, Pittsburgh spent a fourth-round draft pick on Anthony McFarland this year. This could be a sign that Conner’s contract will not be renewed after the 2020 season. For this year, though, it’s a sign that the Steelers want plenty of depth at the position.
As a rookie, Snell was the best runner on the Steelers roster. He runs hard, gets downhill, and is a nightmare to bring down. There are two areas in which Snell struggled in 2019, though. He’s slow in the open field and doesn’t offer much in the receiving game. When Snell is on the field, it’s likely that the play will be a run between the tackles. Snell’s big goals for 2020 should be to showcase more speed in the open field and develop as both a receiver and pass blocker. If that versatility is present this year, the team will have confidence in Snell to be the featured back in 2021.
The Rest
There are two more second-year players who are expected to see a contributing role in 2020. Sixth round pick Isaiah Buggs will provide the team depth along the defensive line. He showed signs of promise in very limited opportunities in 2019. Though he won’t see too many snaps, Buggs should be able to provide depth as both a nose tackle and defensive end. The team’s other sixth round pick, Ulysees Gilbert, might have a key role to play in 2020, too. His main contributions will likely come on special teams. But there might be some situations where Gilbert sees some defensive snaps in obvious passing situations alongside Devin Bush. Though we only saw him play defense last preseason, Gilbert seems promising as a coverage linebacker. He could take a few snaps from Vince Williams in that regard, but don’t expect it to be too many.
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