Pittsburgh
Steelers
2018 Record: (9-6-1) 2nd AFC North
2018 Season Recap:
Offense
Points: 26.8 (6th)
Yards: 403.3 (4th)
Pass Yards: 313.0 (2nd)
Rush Yards: 90.3 (30th)
Defense
Points: 22.5 (17th)
Yards: 327.2 (6th)
Pass Yards: 231.1 (10th)
Rush Yards: 96.1 (6th)
The 2018 offseason began much like the year prior in
terms of supreme headlines dictated toward the future of star LeVeon Bell.
Continuing his disgruntled outlook feeling disrespected to have been given the
franchise tag for the second straight season, early indications had Bell
sitting out until the first week of the regular season as he did in 2017.
As time continued to move forward, Bell remained away
from the team standing firm in his holdout, looking to sit out the entire
season in hopes to become a free agent at its conclusion. Pittsburgh had no
choice but to forge ahead with second year back James Conner, and the output
was glorious to say the least. With every passing week, Conner allowed the
Steelers to forget about LeVeon believing they have found his replacement in
the special talent.
While the season began with Pittsburgh putting up a
draw to the Browns in week 1, they followed that up with a loss to the Chiefs,
which again opened up dialog to get Bell back with the team. Coach Tomlin
wasn’t ready to give in just yet and corralled his troops to win three of the
next four contests to bring their record to 3-2-1 entering their bye week (week
7).
Being forced to change their offensive approach
without the services of Bell, Ben Roethlisberger was the vocal point and
continued to exploit his talented receiving core while continuing to be a
league leader in passing yards. Coming off the bye, the Steelers found good
fortune in winning their next four games with one contest highlighting their
ability to the tune of a 52-21 beat down of the Carolina Panthers. That contest
put the league on notice that Pittsburgh had no intension of letting their
season ride into the sunset.
Unfortunately for the Steelers, riding high after
their four game winning streak put them in familiar territory of playing down
to their opposition as we’ve seen in seasons past. Being divisional leaders
heading into week 12, Pittsburgh dropped their next three winnable games to the
Broncos, Chargers, followed by a catastrophic collapse to the Raiders.
With their season on life support entering the final
three games of the year, the Steelers managed to beat out the Patriots at home
to have a shot in a enormous showdown against the Saints. Understanding that
Pittsburgh would have to be at their absolute best to win this game and keep
their post season hopes alive, Roethlisberger played exceptionally well leading
the team down the field all game and with little time remaining on the clock,
had them in position to attempt a game tying field goal. With 41 seconds
remaining in the contest, Ben found reliable star in the making (Juju
Smith-Schuster) over the middle, only to witness the ball pop up in the air on
a perfect strip and recovery.
The scene showed Juju holding his hands to his helmet,
face in the super-dome turf, realizing his costly fumble just created a
situation where they no longer would hold their own destiny. While the Steelers
regrouped, and managed to be victorious in the last game of the 2018 campaign,
all effort was for not as their fate rested on Baltimore losing which didn’t
transpire.
2019
Offseason WorkBook:
The
Coaching Staff
Heading into the offseason earlier than the Steelers
had hoped, many began calling for a change to remove long tenured coach Mike
Tomlin and to move in another direction.
With players (both past and present) providing their
two-cents into the matter, some feel that Tomlin provides too much rope to
certain players which in turn drives the locker room.
While Steelers ownership provided their endorsement to
Tomlin for yet another season, some changeover has occurred to specialty
coaching pieces which could be viewed as scapegoating moves. Outside of that,
the Steelers will return with virtually the same cast leading the way, with new
faces to help Tomlin in situational areas.
The
Offense
The Steelers have been a club that have had its share
of exuberant personalities over the years, and if a power struggle exists
within the team, it was clear with how the Antonio Brown situation unfolded at
the end of the season. Like dealing with the LeVeon Bell situation wasn’t
enough, add another superstar to the mix and you have a cocktail of problems no
one would like to taste.
It’s impossible to review this offense without
discussing the future of both players. While the Bell situation looks to have
resolved on its on momentum, the Steelers have chosen to let him roam free to
the open market to do his bidding. The Antonio Brown situation on the other
hand has many layers that may not work out the way both would want.
Brown has made his intentions of parting ways publicly
known through social media accounts, then confirming that notion after a sit
down with ownership to equally move in different directions. While the Steelers
haven’t allowed Brown and his agent to actively approach teams for a trade, the
underlining aspect of how a deal will get done will be through discussion.
Antonio may not find himself on a squad that he would like to play for next
season, but he almost certainly won’t be a member of the black & yellow.
Moving forward without Bell and Brown, the Steelers
still have a great deal of talent on this team that should allow the transition
to be felt with minimal pain. Pittsburgh has a fantastic history of finding
receivers in the draft only to develop them into the polished products we’ve
seen these past several years. Now Juju Smith-Schuster has his opportunity to
become the team’s leading receiver and possibly develop himself into a prime
time player in his own right. Even without Brown, Pittsburgh currently houses
James Washington and Ryan Switzer which could form a nice tandem with Juju
creating more mismatches on the field. Adding to that, we have no doubt that
receiver will be addressed in the draft once again this offseason.
The running game was no worse for wear this past
season with James Conner proving he was an ideal fit to replace LeVeon Bell.
While the skillset could be seen as less than what Bell could produce, Conner
has ample room to grow and become a stellar player in the league. Even when
James found his way to the medical room to nurse some injuries, back up Jaylen
Samuels filled in nicely allowing the Steelers to move forward. Samuels could
also carve out a greater role on this club next season.
Even with all the issues surrounding the Steelers
early this offseason, the one constant is Ben Roethlisberger and what was a
career high in passing yards this past season. With his offensive line
protecting him extremely well, we will see a different version of the Steelers
in 2019, but one that could still have high octane attached.
The
Defense
Coming into the 2018 season, expectations weren’t
necessarily high on this group to have performed the way they had. Holding
rankings in the top ten in many statistical categories, the Steelers downfall
came with allowing teams to score far too often. While their yardage allowed
did rival the best in the business, they couldn’t keep teams out of their
endzone.
Seeing the output became something of a mystery, as
the Steelers dominated opposing offensive lines racking up a whopping 52 sacks
on the season. TJ Watt became a household name leading the club with 13.5 sacks
and allowing his teammates to capitalize on the added attention he received.
When Ryan Shazier lost his NFL career to that spinal
injury, a gaping hole was left at the inside linebacker position leaving
Pittsburgh quite vulnerable. Keeping Watt and Dupree’s outside rushing presence
the formula, the Steelers will undoubtedly address their inadequacies of their
inside men this offseason.
With the Steelers defensive front seven looking rather
stout, we would like to see more work done on the defensive backend. Outside of
Joe Hayden and Terrell Edmunds, Pittsburgh requires a talent infusion like no
other at corner back. Last year’s rookie safety (Edmunds) covered up many
inefficiencies from this group as the unit as a whole only mustered 8
interceptions all season. While our assessment looks to be rather grim, this
group did have moments where coverage allowed the line to obtain sacks from
their effort. However, in a nutshell, this group needs to get better.
This side has many great pieces to work with and
should return to provide similar, if not better output this coming season -
provided the Steelers brain trust can shore up holes that exist.
Team
Free Agents / Team Salary Cap
The guiding principle for teams to move forward while
continuing winning ways in the league is paramount in how they manage their
books. Missing the playoffs while employing high priced talent is never a
positive for any general manager, and the Steelers do in fact have some work to
do in that regard.
Not only do the Steelers have to figure out how to
absorb Antonio Browns contract (provided he gets traded this offseason),
Pittsburgh has 23 players vying for new deals. While the listing doesn’t appear
to pose much concern, a few names pop up to potentially return to the fold.
Ramon Foster, Xavier Gamble, Eli Rogers, and Jesse James round out the group of
players that could receive a contract offer, but aren’t guarantees to return.
Outside of that, interchangeable pieces fill the reminder of this listing.
General Manager Kevin Colbert has done a great job
managing the books to still possess a decent 18 million (+$18,344,247) while
dishing out big money deals to super talented players. While trading Brown will
be at the forefront, his 22 million dollar cap hit would only save the Steelers
1 million, with 21 million headed over to lost funds. If the Steelers chose to
wait until June 1st to make any kind of transaction (which we
believe they will), Brown’s dead money drops drastically to only 12 million,
leaving that the best scenario.
Finding creative ways to remain competitive while
shedding salary is always our objective, and GM Colbert definitely has some
solid options. Picking up the 5th year option on Bud Dupree has
placed his cap number to nearly 10 million, leaving the option to extend the
talented rusher a priority to lower that cap number.
The Steelers went out last season on the open market
and signed Morgan Burnett (formally of the Packers), to which has become
instantly regrettable. Cutting bait with Morgan would remove 6.4 million off
the books while only taking 2.8 in dead money. Outside of that one move,
minimal savings can be achieved in releasing lesser talent.
The
NFL Draft
Entering
this year’s draft, Pittsburgh holds seven picks to their name missing only
their 5th round selection and picking up an additional 6th
to round out the board.
Starting in
the first round, the Steelers select with the 20th overall pick and
could move in a multitude of directions to help re-tool this squad.
Historically Pittsburgh leans toward players on the defensive side early, to
help bolster that prowess, but this could be the year we see a change.
Finding an
adequate replacement for Antonio Brown could be first on the agenda, but we
could envision a situation where defensive back or line backer is the selection
with their first round pick. Continuing to build to remain competitive will be
the guiding principle with Big-Ben having a couple sound years left in the
tank.
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