Mandatory minicamp has seemingly come and gone for the Pittsburgh Steelers on the South Side as they wrap up the three-day camp Thursday at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex.
Once that’s over with, the next six weeks will be football-less until players and coaches arrive in Latrobe for another iteration of Steelers Training Camp at Saint Vincent College on Chuck Noll Field.
That means there will be some downtime, which is perfect for me to continue some of my offseason series. So today I thought we could continue my Ranking The Steelers’ Starters series here at Steelers Depot, looking at No. 12-10 today.
Before we dive into the next three starters ranked in the just outside of the top 10, I wanted to again 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.
*italics indicates players are already ranked in the series.
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
With that out of the way, let’s take a look at the ranking so far here at Steelers Depot:
No. 24 — Braden Mann, P
No. 23 — Dan Moore Jr., LT
No. 22 — Levi Wallace, CB
No. 21 — Joey Porter Jr., CB
No. 20 — Elandon Roberts, LB
No. 19 — Allen Robinson II, WR
No. 18 — Damontae Kazee, S
No. 17 — Chukwuma Okorafor, RT
No. 16 — Mason Cole, C
No. 15 — Patrick Peterson, CB
No. 14 — Cole Holcomb, LB
No. 13 — Kenny Pickett, QB
Now, let’s dive into the Steelers’ starters, No. 12-10.
No. 12 — Chris Boswell, K
Last season Chris Boswell cracked the rankings at No. 6 overall, coming off of a career year ahead of the 2022 season. Then, things unraveled for the veteran kicker. He battled injuries all season long, played in just 12 games overall and had his worst season since a disastrous 2018 season, covering just 71.4% of his kicks for the Black and Gold.
Some of that could be due to the injury to his groin and hip, which sapped some of his power and accuracy. Prior to landing on Injured Reserve after the Week 8 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, Boswell had missed just three field goal attempts. After returning from IR ahead of the Week 13 matchup against the Baltimore Ravens at Acrisure Stadium, Boswell missed four kicks down the stretch, including two on Christmas Eve against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Entering his age 32 season, Boswell desperately needs a bounce back year. He’s getting rather expensive for the position, and if he struggles to stay healthy and make kicks again, the Steelers could look to make a change, having brought in kicker B.T. Potter as an undrafted free agent this offseason after special teams coordinator Danny Smith spent a lot of time with him at the Clemson Pro Day.
No. 11 — Larry Ogunjobi, DE
Larry Ogunjobi was a late signing last season, so he was not in the Ranking The Steelers’ Starters series last summer. This year though, the big, hulking defensive tackle lands just outside of the top 10 after a rather strong first season with the Steelers.
Though he was banged up throughout the 2022 season and wasn’t able to practice normally with the team, he still played in 16 of a possible 17 game and recorded 48 tackles, seven tackles for loss and 11 quarterback hits. He only had 1.5 sacks last season, which was a bit of a disappointment, but fully comfortable in the Steelers’ defense now and finding a long-term home should help Ogunjobi get back to his level of play he displayed in 2021 with the Cincinnati Bengals.
He’s a real force on the interior with great strength against the run and good quickness to win as a pass rusher or when shooting gaps to knife into the backfield. Playing opposite Cameron Heyward with T.J. Watt on his side could lead to a big year from the veteran defensive tackle in 2023. If it does, the Steelers’ defense will be even scarier.
No. 10 — George Pickens, WR
Thanks to a monster rookie season, George Pickens climbs 10 spots in the rankings from last year to this year.
As a rookie, Pickens took the league by storm, making a number of ridiculous plays throughout the 2022 season for the Steelers, finishing with an impressive 52 receptions for 802 yards and four touchdowns. Now, more is expected of him. A full year under his belt in the NFL, great chemistry with quarterback Kenny Pickett and another year removed from his ACL injury should allow Pickens to reach another level to his game, which is a downright scary thought.
While Pickens struggles to create separation and had some mental lapses last season as a rookie, he remained rather impressive throughout the season due to his ability to contort his body to make highlight-reel catches and play through significant contact to win 50/50 balls. He needs to continue to develop as a route runner overall and create more plays after the catch, but there’s no denying just how great Pickens’ potential is.
If he hits in Year 2, he’ll be much, much higher in this ranking next summer.
