{"id":751833,"date":"2026-02-14T15:10:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T15:10:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/751833\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T15:10:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T15:10:15","slug":"ranking-the-steelers-starters-post-season-edition-no-12-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/751833\/","title":{"rendered":"Ranking The Steelers\u2019 Starters Post-Season Edition: No. 12-10"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Just when it looked like things were going to start warming up a bit in the Pittsburgh area, a bone-chilling freeze has returned.<\/p>\n<p>The same cannot be said for the NFL offseason calendar, as things are heating up and rolling right along as it chugs towards the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis and, shortly after that, the start of the new league year.<\/p>\n<p>For the Pittsburgh Steelers, a lot of questions need to be answered this offseason, such as under center regarding Aaron Rodgers and what the future looks like there, not to mention needs at receiver, cornerback, and safety. The Steelers are set to have more than 20 players hit free agency, so holes will need to be plugged.<\/p>\n<p>Right now, though, we continue to roll on here at Steelers Depot in the Ranking The Steelers\u2019 Starters series, taking a look at the series I compiled prior to the start of training camp, and re-ranking those same players coming out of the season.<\/p>\n<p>So far, I have covered <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersdepot.com\/2026\/01\/ranking-the-steelers-starters-post-season-edition-no-24-22-3\/\" data-google-interstitial=\"false\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">No. 24-22<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersdepot.com\/2026\/01\/ranking-the-steelers-starters-post-season-edition-no-21-19-3\/\" data-google-interstitial=\"false\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">No. 21-19<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersdepot.com\/2026\/02\/ranking-the-steelers-starters-post-season-edition-no-18-16-3\/\" data-google-interstitial=\"false\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">No. 18-16<\/a>. You can also read <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersdepot.com\/2026\/02\/ranking-the-steelers-starters-post-season-edition-no-15-13-3\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">No. 15-13 here.<\/a> Check all four of those out to better understand today\u2019s rankings.<\/p>\n<p>As a reminder, here\u2019s how the list looked from No. 24-1 ahead of training camp.<\/p>\n<p>No. 24 \u2014 Broderick Jones, LT<br \/>No. 23 \u2014 Troy Fautanu, RT<br \/>No. 22 \u2014 Calvin Austin III, WR\u00a0<br \/>No. 21 \u2014 Cameron Johnston, P<br \/>No. 20 \u2014 Derrick Harmon, DE<br \/>No. 19 \u2014 Mason McCormick, RG\u00a0<br \/>No. 18 \u2014 Keeanu Benton, NT\u00a0<br \/>No. 17 \u2014 Darius Slay, CB<br \/>No. 16 \u2014 Jaylen Warren, RB\u00a0<br \/>No. 15 \u2014 Payton Wilson, ILB<br \/>No. 14 \u2014 Patrick Queen, ILB<br \/>No. 13 \u2014 Aaron Rodgers, QB<br \/>No. 12 \u2014 Pat Freiermuth, TE\u00a0<br \/>No. 11 \u2014 Joey Porter Jr., CB\u00a0<br \/>No. 10 \u2014 Jonnu Smith, TE\u00a0<br \/>No. 9 \u2014 Isaac Seumalo, LG<br \/>No. 8 \u2014 Jalen Ramsey, DB<br \/>No. 7 \u2014 DK Metcalf, WR\u00a0<br \/>No. 6 \u2014 DeShon Elliott, S<br \/>No. 5 \u2014 Zach Frazier, C<br \/>No. 4 \u2014 Alex Highsmith, OLB<br \/>No. 3 \u2014 Chris Boswell, K\u00a0<br \/>No. 2 \u2014 T.J. Watt, OLB<br \/>No. 1 \u2014 Cameron Heyward, DE\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s how the list looks coming out of the season to this point.<\/p>\n<p>No. 24 \u2014 Darius Slay, CB<br \/>No. 23 \u2014 Corliss Waitman, P\u00a0<br \/>No. 22 \u2014 Jonnu Smith, TE\u00a0<br \/>No. 21 \u2014 Calvin Austin III, WR\u00a0<br \/>No. 20 \u2014 Broderick Jones, LT\u00a0<br \/>No. 19 \u2014 Keeanu Benton, NT\u00a0<br \/>No. 18 \u2014 Pat Freiermuth, TE\u00a0<br \/>No. 17 \u2014 Payton Wilson, ILB<br \/>No. 16 \u2014 Patrick Queen, ILB<br \/>No. 15 \u2014 Mason McCormick, RG<br \/>No. 14 \u2014 Jaylen Warren, RB<br \/>No. 13 \u2014 Jalen Ramsey, DB<\/p>\n<p>Today, we\u2019ll dive into No. 12-10.<\/p>\n<p>NO. 12 \u2014 DERRICK HARMON, DL<\/p>\n<p>When the Steelers drafted Derrick Harmon at No. 21 overall out of Oregon, they had visions of the big defensive lineman being a game-changer up front. When he was healthy and on the field last season, Harmon was a key piece against the run. The numbers of when he was in the lineup and when he was injured were startling.<\/p>\n<p>As he got his legs underneath him late in the season, Harmon\u2019s game took off. He was<a href=\"https:\/\/steelersdepot.com\/2025\/12\/film-room-derrick-harmon-has-career-day-against-all-pro-competition\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> dominant in a matchup<\/a> against All-Pro Detroit Lions right tackle Penei Sewell in Week 16, and started to come on strong late as a pass rusher, generating seven pressures in his final four games to go along with two sacks.<\/p>\n<p>Health is key for Harmon moving forward. If he can remain on the field consistently in Year 2, his game could really elevate to a dominant level.<\/p>\n<p>NO. 11 \u2014 ISAAC SEUMALO, LG<\/p>\n<p>Though he slides a few spots back in the postseason rankings due, in large part, to the final performance he had in the playoff loss, left guard Isaac Seumalo was quietly one of the best offensive linemen for the Steelers all season long. He battled through a pectoral injury all season, and his play never really dipped.<\/p>\n<p>Seumalo plays 827 snaps in the regular season and playoffs for Pittsburgh, missing just three games. He missed Week 10 against the Los Angeles Chargers, Week 16 against the Lions, and Week 17 against the Cleveland Browns. When he was on the field, though, Seumalo was rock solid. He graded out at a 73.3 overall from Pro Football Focus and allowed just 20 pressures and four sacks on the season. Five of those pressures and one sack came in the Wild Card loss, which was a dreadful performance.<\/p>\n<p>But now he\u2019s set to hit free agency, and the Steelers would be <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersdepot.com\/2026\/02\/former-steelers-ol-would-absolutely-bring-back-isaac-seumalo-in-free-agency\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">wise to try to bring him back.<\/a> He\u2019s a good leader behind the scenes for a young offensive line, one that could certainly help in the transition from a coaching staff perspective.<\/p>\n<p>NO. 10 \u2014 AARON RODGERS, QB<\/p>\n<p>Coming into the year, expectations weren\u2019t that high for Aaron Rodgers in his first season with the Steelers. After all, he was set to turn 42 years old late in the season, and it was unclear just what he had left in the tank.<\/p>\n<p>Turns out, he had plenty left in the tank. The arm was still remarkable to watch. He can make all of the throws still, and there is serious zip on the arm. He made a number of highlight-reel throws throughout the season. Where his impact was felt most, though, was from a leadership perspective. Rodgers was the elder statesman in the room, and his leadership was a beacon for Pittsburgh. When they needed it most, particularly late in the year, <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersdepot.com\/2026\/02\/steelers-2026-free-agent-analysis-qb-aaron-rodgers\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Rodgers led the way.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Now, teammates want him back for a second season, and a chance to reunite with Mike McCarthy could be intriguing for Rodgers. All signs seem to point to him returning. But he\u2019ll have to be better with holding onto the ball to make some throws down the field offensively, or it will just be much of the same: dink and dunk, and hope to put together 10-, 12-, 14-play drives consistently.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just when it looked like things were going to start warming up a bit in the Pittsburgh area,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":686584,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2055],"tags":[1586,340,7,9314,6,520,57,2360,426],"class_list":{"0":"post-751833","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-aaron-rodgers","9":"tag-derrick-harmon","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-isaac-seumalo","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-pittsburgh","14":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","15":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","16":"tag-steelers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116069625096287105","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=751833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/686584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=751833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=751833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=751833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}