The 2016 season is unfortunately over, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are now embarking upon their latest offseason journey, heading back to the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, formerly known and still referred to as the ‘South Side’ facility of Heinz Field. While the postseason is now behind us, there is plenty left to discuss.
And there are plenty of questions left unanswered as well. The offseason is just really the beginning phase of the answer-seeking process, which is lasts all the way through the Super Bowl for teams fortunate enough to reach that far.
You can rest assured that we have the questions, and we will be monitoring the developments in the offseason as they develop, and beyond, looking for the answers as we look to evaluate the makeup of the Steelers as they try to navigate their way back to the Super Bowl, after reaching the AFC Championship game last season for the first time in more than half a decade.
Question: Following the Steelers draft selections, which position still remains the weakest group from top to bottom on the roster?
The Steelers entered last week’s draft carrying in a roster in which it could have made sense to add a pick at some point in the draft anywhere. Even a late defensive tackle would likely have been in play even though they addressed the defensive line in particular during free agency.
There were still some significant concerns—depending on who you asked, of course—about other groups leading up to the draft, including outside linebacker, inside linebacker, cornerback, safety, wide receiver, running back, tight end, and quarterback. So…pretty close to most of the roster. And evidently even long snapper.
The Steelers used two picks on outside linebackers, two picks on cornerbacks, and a pick each at wide receiver, running back, quarterback, and long snapper. The positions that they failed to address in the draft at all were the offensive and defensive lines, safety, and inside linebacker.
Inside linebacker is the only position in which the Steelers lost a starter from last season, and they have not added any players there this offseason outside of a Reserve/Future signing or two, so I suspect that that will be a pretty popular pick.
The Steelers have questions at tight end with the health of Ladarius Green at the top and the limited ceiling for Jesse James. A third safety was desired who could be used in the slot and up at the line of scrimmage on passing downs, as the team did look at several of such candidates.
