Several players haven’t developed (Benton, Porter, R. Wilson), a few players look like outright draft misfires (Broderick Jones, K. Johnson, Leal), a couple more players look more serviceable than impactful (Pat F, P Wilson, C Austin). You’d hope the young core would contain a few of these players but that doesn’t appear to be the case.
The team’s main difference makers are beyond long in the tooth and at this rate – I don’t see the QB sticking around past this year and it’s plausible he just cashes out once this goes south this year.
Could this team finish below .500 this year and be a bottom 3 team next year? Or asked differently: how can this situation get better when they just have so few ascending young players?
31 comments
Why are you thinking about Cam’s bottom?
IMO Benton has been good
Over paid and under performing. It’s funny. It feels like any time we have a better offense in the last decade, our defense is horrific. But if our offense is Mason Rudolph, our defense is outstanding. Almost like the defense doesn’t feel they need to compensate for a bad offense. The difference between now vs. Killer B’s is this defense is highly paid and has talent.
Putting Roman Wilson in that list feels awfully unfair, he got drafted, was injured the whole year and just came back this year, scheme is either throws to DK or a tight end, when roman has seen the ball, he’s done what he’s needed to with it.
BroJo at first seemed like a huge whiff but he’s now back at his actual position and he’s looking better each week. Pat F is having an off year but he’s been a very reliable TE and a decent blocker.
I only see two possible winnable games in the remaining schedule and those might be a stretch (Cincinnati at home and at Cleveland). They need to bottom out and get a franchise QB along with a new HC. Tomlin ran the team into the ground and is the root of all the problems.
Roman Wilson missed his entire rookie season and just had his best game yet.
Find out at 1pm this Sunday
lol terrible analysis of current players. Literally just making it up
Pray for Cam and his family. They need to eat
The bottom is not winning another game. Like all the doom and gloom folk expect. But that isn’t a thing as much as they want it to be.
I think this team finishes somewhere between 7-10 and 9-8 this season. Looking at the rest of our schedule, we’ve got one virtually guaranteed win left: Dolphins in mid-December. In order to get to .500, we’d need to go 3-1 against the remaining games for the AFC North and then find a way to beat either the Chargers or the Bears. It’s doable, but we may have put ourselves behind the 8-ball by blowing the Bengals game.
As for future seasons, the defense simply can’t stay this old. The Steelers need to really hit some home runs in the draft soon because it feels like our drafting has been subpar for over a decade at this point.
The bottom for cam? When the buffet is closed #tubby
This year.
Your talent assessment is just dooming that is completely unrelated to what is happening on the field because you’re flailing for answers.
Not seeing 5 wins left on the schedule. We never seem to beat those teams.
The worst possible scenario for this team is that Tomlin signs another extension into 2030 after convincing the Rooney family this is Aaron Rodgers fault somehow.
We know what the bottom looks like, its in Cleveland.
Because of our success (or mediocrity) people forget how easy it is to just suck for a long time in the nfl. Roster construction and sustained success is actually hard, much harder than other sports id argue. You rotate out some good players, and it might be years before you find replacements that *also* mesh with your coaches. Now youre winning 3-6 games a year and swinging at every quarterback that rolls through and hoping you can quick install things around one
During training camp did anyone else hear they were going to try to line up TJ on the other side? Or am I just crazy?
You know they are in 1st place, right?
Lots of websites for that.
This is the bottom. Forever mediocre
No way we are bottom three next year. That would mean good draft position.
Worst we can do is 9-8
This team could never be on the same page. If the offense struggles, defense is amazing, but when we get an actual offense rolling, defense playing like they don’t know who they are
I think a losing season that’s what it’s going to take for theSteelers management to finally understand that football has passed Mike Tomlin and his coaches by
I truly believe that’s why Bill Cowher got out. He saw things changing in the game that was just beyond him.
Mike should’ve retired with Ben
Tomlin needs to quit before he ruins his precious record
1988
1998
1999
2003
Those teams were all much worse than this years team. I get not being happy about not having a playoff win in awhile, but talking about a 4-3 team and thinking about what the bottom looks like is pretty much the definition of being spoiled.
My armchair GM opinions:
We paid Pat too much money. He is literally just healthy Mike Giesicki. I genuinely think Darnell is better and more versatile within the context of our offense. That said I think having both of them is great and the Jonu addition really harmed their development more than helped the team.
Calvin Austin is a very solid WR3, but how many receivers with his physical profile ever really become more than that?
Broderick is an average NFL starter. That’s more common than not with 1st round tackles, disappointing but not the worst case scenario some people thought it could be.
Porter is playing in an ancient defensive scheme and has no hands (slow Ike Taylor anyone?).
Kaleb Johnson had one bone headed play returning kicks (he never should have been doing that to begin with), and gets like 1-2 meaningful carries a game because you obviously have to feed the ball to…Kenneth Gainwell?
Leal was always a tweener which is why he fell in the draft and he apparently got on Tomlin’s shit early so never had expectations.
The fact Payton Wilson is giving us any impactful snaps at all is a miracle considering his medicals coming out of the draft.
Roman Wilson supposedly struggled to pickup the playbook last year, but every time I see him on the field I think “wow, that guy should probably be on the field more than he is”. Especially considering the dearth of talent we have at that spot and draft capital spent on him.
Benton I agree with you. Maybe once Cam is out of the picture and he sees his snap count go up he gets back on track?
Keanu Benton might be one of the worst DL in the league. The problem with this defense is coaching. They let players run the show and implement horrible schemes. Tomlin needs to go.
We’re going to get our asses handed to us by the Colts then I see some light at the end of the tunnel.
What could the bottom look like? When I started watching them, the Steelers were coming off a 1-13 season; their 6th straight losing season. Not to mention the teams that consistently stick, except for the occasional decent season. So the bottom is a long way down. I hope we don’t get there.
That said, they’ve spent a lot of money and energy on “win now” band-aids, only some of who have been consistently good, and none who will be with us 3-5 years from now. And who haven’t pushed us beyond “non-losing seasons”.