The Steelers are now in their offseason after failing to reach the playoffs in 2022, coming up just a game short of sneaking in as the seventh seed. They needed help in week 18 and only got some of it, so instead they sat home and watched the playoffs with the rest of us.
On tap is figuring out how to be on the field in January and February instead of being a spectator. They started out 2-6, digging a hole that proved too deep to dig out of even if they managed to go 7-2 in the second half of the year.
Starting from the end of the regular season and leading all the way up to the beginning of the 2023 season, there are plenty of questions that need answered, starting with who will be the offensive coordinator. Which free agents will be kept? Who might be let go due to their salary? How might they tackle free agency with this new front office? We’ll try to frame the conversation in relevant ways as long as you stick with us throughout this offseason, as we have for many years.
Question: Other than Kenny Pickett, which Steeler needs to improve the most in 2023 for the team to be successful?
There is always excitement surrounding a team’s rookie class, but the reality is that it’s rarely the newest incomers who make the difference in any particular season. That’s why not just Mike Tomlin but every coach always talks about the second-year jump, though it doesn’t always necessarily come in year two. Rarely are players at their best from the get-go.
So who do the Steelers need to step up this year in order to achieve their goals? The quarterback position is far too obvious right now with Kenny Pickett going into year two, but among all other veterans who were with the team last year, who do you believe has the most pressure to take their game to the next level—or get back to a level from which they fell last year? Let’s make an injury exception here so that we don’t get answers like T.J. Watt.
A lot of guys are gone who would otherwise be major candidates for this question. I think many will say George Pickens, but for me, it’s about Diontae Johnson. He had a very pedestrian season last year, largely hindered by the issues inherent in the changeover at the quarterback position, but it’s time for him to put together his best season, if not statistically, then at least from the perspective of consistency and reliability.
If Johnson can transform himself into that routinely dependable open option, it will keep every possession alive for the offense. That’s an area in which the Steelers were already improving in the second half of last season, but there is still a lot of room to grow here.
