An offseason filled with change from top to bottom within the Pittsburgh Steelers’ organization has brought some fresh, new faces into the facility in one of the busiest offseasons in franchise history.
In a little under two months, the new-look Steelers will take to Chuck Noll Field in Latrobe at St. Vincent College for another iteration of Steelers training camp. For now, we’re stuck in the dog days of the offseason featuring OTAs and a lot of downtime, which leads me to roll out another version of my Ranking The Starters series here at Steelers Depot.
In case you missed how last season’s list went, you can find that here. The top three certainly created some discussion.
This year, with so many new faces and some changes in the starting lineup, the list could look vastly different once again.
Before we dive into the first three starters ranked near the bottom in my rankings, I wanted to lay out my projected starters for the season as we draw nearer to training camp. Below, I went with 11 personnel and a three-receiver set offensively, while going with the Steelers’ sub-package defense.
Offense
QB — Kenny Pickett
RB — Najee Harris
WR — George Pickens
WR – Diontae Johnson
WR – Allen Robinson II
TE — Pat Freiermuth
LT — Dan Moore Jr.
LG — Isaac Seumalo
C — Mason Cole
RG — James Daniels
RT – Chukwuma Okorafor
Defense
DE — Cameron Heyward
DE — Larry Ogunjobi
OLB — Alex Highsmith
ILB — Elandon Roberts
ILB — Cole Holcomb
OLB — T.J. Watt
CB — Patrick Peterson
CB — Levi Wallace
CB – Joey Porter Jr.
S — Minkah Fitzpatrick
S — Damontae Kazee
Specialists
K – Chris Boswell
P — Braden Mann
As you can see, I’m projecting Dan Moore Jr. to start the season in Week 1 at left tackle, so that’s why he gets the nod in the Ranking the Steelers Starters series here, and I am also projecting Braden Mann to beat out Pressley Harvin III for the punter job in Pittsburgh.
New faces in Allen Robinson II, Isaac Seumalo, Elandon Roberts, Cole Holcomb and Patrick Peterson also step into the starting lineup, while I have just one rookie — Joey Porter Jr. — playing a key role entering the 2023 season as a “starter.”
With that out of the way, let’s dive into the list.
No. 24 — Braden Mann, P
For the first time in two seasons, the Steelers will have – based on my own projections — a new punter, that being waiver claim Braden Mann, who I think can realistically beat out Harvin in training camp at Latrobe and provide the Steelers with some consistency at the position.
While Harvin had a better second season in the NFL after an up-and-down rookie season coming out of Georgia Tech while dealing with personal tragedy, his 2022 season had its moments of frustration and head-scratching mistakes. The Steelers seem to want to provide competition for Harvin, and that’s what they did with the claim of Mann off waivers.
He won’t be just a camp leg, either. Mann should provide adequate competition for Harvin during training camp this year, and the fact that the Steelers decided to make that move suggests that they agree competition is necessary.
A three-year starter, Mann owns a gross 45.4-yard punting average with a net of 39.5. He has bettered those numbers over the last two years, however, averaging 40.8 net yards per punt last season. Despite putting up decent numbers, the Jets signed 15th-year veteran Thomas Morstead and let Mann go, landing him in Pittsburgh.
Harvin has certainly done a nice job as a holder in Pittsburgh for kicker Chris Boswell, but the entire operation of long snapper Christian Kuntz, Harvin and Boswell appears to be under serious competition. I think Harvin is the first one to lose his job to the veteran Mann under special teams coordinator Danny Smith, hopefully providing the Steelers with some steady play in the punting game.
No. 23 — Dan Moore Jr, LT
I like Dan Moore Jr. quite a bit; probably much more than most.
I own that. I still think he can be a solid starting tackle on the left or right side in the NFL. But it’s quite clear that his rookie season struggles weren’t just a one-off. He struggled last season, too, getting called for 10 penalties and allowing seven sacks once again. Some of that can be attributed to the struggles inside at left guard with Kevin Dotson, but Moore fell on the sword a lot in 2022, which led to the Steelers drafting Broderick Jones in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
We’ll see if competition and truly being pushed by Jones brings out the best in Moore. While the left tackle position is Jones’ moving forward, at least based on what the Steelers are hoping for, Moore has to show improvements this summer to potentially push Chukwuma Okorafor at right tackle when the time comes.
For now though, he’s penciled in at left tackle as the starter to open the season, at least in my eyes. But it’s quite clear based on the work the Steelers did this offseason that he’s the lowest-ranked starter on offense or defense for the Black and Gold entering the 2023 season.
No. 22 — Levi Wallace, CB
Levi Wallace is a sound player to have on a roster. He was a smart signing last season by the Steelers in free agency, and he certainly served his purpose in Pittsburgh as a No. 2/3 cornerback. But that’s really all he is.
The upside is limited.
Last season, his first in Pittsburgh, Wallace had his struggles, posting the second-lowest grade of his career from Pro Football Focus at 62.8 overall, including the second-worst coverage grade of his career as well at 59.3. He was exceptional in run support, but teams really went after him in the passing game.
While he did record a career-high four interceptions, they were too far and few between, going five weeks before his first interception of the season, and then six weeks between his third and fourth interceptions on the year. Pittsburgh remade the cornerback room his offseason, bringing in Patrick Peterson, Joey Porter Jr., Cory Trice Jr., and Chandon Sullivan in free agency and the NFL Draft. Wallace still seems penciled in as the No. 2 corner in Pittsburgh — for now.
But he’s a guy worth monitoring moving forward. Solid player, dependable as far as availability goes, but he’s just missing that overall consistency that teams really need at the corner position in today’s game.
