During the NFL offseason, it’s easy to be optimistic about your favorite NFL team prior to the start of the regular season. Seeing all the new outside free agents brought in and the shiny new toys acquired by your favorite team during the NFL Draft can make the fans of even the worst NFL teams optimistic enough to say, “Hey, maybe we can make some noise this year!”
This is the case for many Pittsburgh Steelers fans after the team had their most wild offseason in franchise history. GM Omar Khan went out on a frenzy in free agency, bringing in several new faces to the team as well as bringing back several key names that were big contributors last season. The team acquired WR Allen Robinson II from the Los Angeles Rams for pennies and moved up and down the draft board, landing one of the best classes in the 2023 NFL Draft based on value and rankings before the rookies take the field here in the fall.
Simply put, this roster looks far different that the one that took the field a season ago. Pittsburgh could have new starters at FB, WR3, TE2, LT, LG, NT, both ILB spots, CB, and SS while also adding notable depth at the OL, DL, EDGE, and in the secondary.
When looking at this roster, it’s hard not to get excited about the possibilities regarding what this team could do in 2023. When comparing this roster to recent Steelers rosters of the past, how does it compare? It’s easy to say that this roster is better and deeper than the 2021 and 2022 teams, respectively. How about after that? Well, I would contend that this roster as currently assembled stacks up well with the 2020 roster that famously went 11-0 to start the season before hitting a slump down the stretch and experiencing a first-round playoff exit to the hands of the division rival Cleveland Browns.
The 2020 Steelers had a slew of notable veterans still on the roster including QB Ben Roethlisberger, DL Stephon Tuitt, EDGE Bud Dupree, C Maurkice Pouncey, G David DeCastro, OT Alejandro Villanueva, RB James Conner, WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, LB Vince Williams, and CBs Joe Haden, Steven Nelson, Mike Hilton, and Cameron Sutton. While players like Villanueva and Pouncey were on the decline, that team still proved to be one of the better ones in the AFC for most of the season.
While the 2020 team had plenty of notable names from the past, this 2023 Steelers roster stacks up well when comparing the two rosters. The WR corps is probably just as good, if not better now with Allen Robinson II, Calvin Austin III, and George Pickens in tow with Diontae Johnson, who was on the team back in 2020. One would argue that Najee Harris is better than James Conner was at that point of his career and the offensive line looks primed to take a leap in 2023 with the additions of Broderick Jones and Isaac Seumalo.
The defensive line has added several rotational guys to join Cameron Heyward and Larry Ogunjobi and the LB room is just as good, if not better than 2020 with Cole Holcomb and Elandon Roberts as the team’s projected starters. The EDGE room looks deep with T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith both playing at a Pro Bowl level as well as the additions of Markus Golden and Nick Herbig. The CB room may not stack up to the 2020 unit, but Patrick Peterson, Levi Wallace, and Joey Porter Jr. are a good group with youth and experience. The combination of Damontae Kazee and Keanu Neal is probably better than Terrell Edmunds at safety, making a good tandem on the back end with Minkah Fitzpatrick.
Ultimately, no one would be complaining if the 2023 team had similar results to the 2020 team (outside of a first-round playoff exit to the Browns). Asking this current Steelers team to win 12 games seems like a bit much, but double-digit wins and the potential of a playoff victory in 2023 looks like in can be in the cards if this roster produces the way it currently looks on paper.
Again, we will have to wait until the bullets are flying before we can make any judgement calls on just how good this Steelers roster actually is. Still, it is interesting to think how the 2023 Steelers stack up to Steelers teams of the past and if they can exceed what the 2020 unit accomplished.
