Drawing closer and closer to the start of another edition of Pittsburgh Steelers training camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, the anticipation is building for a 2023 season that offers quite a bit of promise and hope for the Black and Gold.
The growth of quarterback Kenny Pickett in Year 2, the return to health for T.J. Watt and a number of new faces brought into the fold are the obvious storylines everyone is looking for. Along with that, there are a handful of players that are the obvious most important impactful pieces for the Steelers, including Pickett, Watt, running back Najee Harris, safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, defensive lineman Cameron Heyward and more.
But what about those under the radar players who quietly could be rather impactful for the Steelers in 2023?
Glad you asked.
Below are my five most underrated players on the Steelers roster that I believe will be the most impactful in the 2023 season and key to the Steelers’ overall success.
NO. 1 — ISAAC SEUMALO, LG
I know that I previously wrote that veteran cornerback Patrick Peterson will be the most pivotal free agent addition that the Steelers made this offseason. I still believe that, but Seumalo was right up there with Peterson.
Based on the way the Steelers are built offensively wanting to play a physical style of football that punches teams right in the mouth with the ground game, Seumalo is going to play a leading role. That said, he’s an offensive linemen, and those players aren’t typically in the spotlight unless it’s for a negative reason.
When Pittsburgh announced the signing of Seumalo, it was highly lauded, but quickly fell by the wayside following some other moves the Steelers made, like the trade for Allen Robinson II or even the selections of left tackle Broderick Jones and cornerback Joey Porter Jr. in the first and second rounds of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Underrated and largely forgotten about is exactly how Seumalo’s career has played out. Yet, time and time again he’s one of the best guards in the league. The Steelers certainly got better with the signing of Seumalo. He is exactly the type of player this team needed up front. He’s a big, physical offensive lineman who brings some nastiness to the run game, something the Steelers really needed inside as Cole and Daniels — while good players in their own right — don’t really bring that to the table.
How well that translates to success in 2023 is anyone’s guess. But based on Seumalo’s career to date, he’s going to be a steady starter who will be impactful in the run game and will keep the depth of the pocket clean as Pickett looks to take the next step. If he is what the Steelers expect him to be, the run game will take a massive step forward this fall.
NO. 2 — CHRIS BOSWELL, K
With the way that Mike Tomlin wants the Steelers to play football as Pickett develops, expect a lot of low-scoring games featuring a heavy dose of the run game and a team leaning mightily on its star-studded defense to win close games. Of course, that could all change if Pickett takes that massive second-year leap many are expecting, and third-year offensive coordinator Matt Canada opens up the playbook a bit more.
But all the roster moves this offseason signal that Tomlin and the Steelers want to play those ugly, low-scoring games. That makes the 2023 season a monumental one of importance for kicker Chris Boswell.
Boswell is coming off of a poor 2022 season albeit with a mitigating factor. He battled injuries all season long, played in just 12 games overall and had his worst season since a disastrous 2018 season, converting just 71.4% of his kicks for the Steelers. That’s not good enough.
Some of that could be due to the injuries 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. They 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.
If Boswell can return to his pre-2022 form as one of the best kickers in the NFL, Pittsburgh will be in great shape and should feel confident late in games when No. 9 hits the field looking to add a critical three points off his right foot. If not, the Steelers could be in for a long season without a reliable kicking game paired with the style of football they want to play.
NO. 3 — DAMONTAE KAZEE, SS
The Steelers decided to let the steady presence in safety Terrell Edmunds walk in free agency this offseason, breaking up a rather strong safety tandem in Edmunds and star Minkah Fitzpatrick. Pittsburgh quickly moved to retain Damontae Kazee though, giving the Steelers a versatile, experienced safety to work off of Fitzpatrick in the secondary.
On paper, it’s a strong move overall. Kazee is a turnover creator — something Edmunds wasn’t during his time in the Black and Gold. In just nine games (four starts) with Pittsburgh last season, Kazee recorded two interceptions, just three less than Edmunds had in 79 games with the Steelers.
Kazee enters his age-30 season and is coming off a season in which he missed the first half of the year due to a broken forearm suffered in the preseason finale against the Detroit Lions. It’s the second time in three seasons he’s missed significant time with a serious injury, tearing his Achilles in 2020 with Atlanta.
While he was impactful down the stretch with the Steelers in 2022, that was as the No. 3 safety, moving around defensively and playing just 273 defensive snaps in the final nine games of the year. Now, he’s projected as the starting strong safety next to Fitzpatrick and will take on a greater workload. Edmunds wasn’t the best safety at his position, but he was reliable, steady and worked very well with Fitzpatrick. Kazee has to be that — and more — for Pittsburgh this season.
He was primarily a third down/dime package player last season. According to charting here at Steelers Depot, excluding the Week Ten game where he replaced an injured Fitzpatrick, Kazee logged 34.4% of his snaps on third or fourth down. Factor in him playing on early downs in obvious passing situations and 56.1 percent of his snaps came in the team’s dime package. Only 20.7 percent came in base packages. That workload will increase this season.
If he can return to his level of play he was at in his early years in Atlanta, the Steelers’ safety tandem could be one of the best in the league. Chances are that won’t happen, but now on the wrong side of 30, Kazee cannot afford a drop-off in play.
NO. 4 — ELANDON ROBERTS, ILB
I know many of you are probably sick of reading about Elandon Roberts from me, but I can’t help it. I’m a big, big fan of his game and I love what he brings to the linebacker room for the 2023 season.
Physicality, leadership, tenacity. He oozes all of it. That’s what the Steelers have been missing since the days of Vince Williams.
Will that be enough for Roberts to be an upgrade? No, but it’s a start.
Right now, much of the attention is on the likes of Cole Holcomb and Mark Robinson at the inside linebacker position, but Roberts could be the best of the bunch in 2023. He might be just a two-down linebacker in today’s game, but he’s going to be that downhill, thumping, run-stopping linebacker Pittsburgh hasn’t had in recent years. He will help immensely against the run and will have an impact as a blitzer, too.
Roberts doesn’t have to be a star by any means. Just being that steady presence and that leader at a position of importance will be impactful for Pittsburgh on a defense aiming to be one of the league’s best in 2023.
NO. 5 — DeMARVIN LEAL, DL
Teams aiming to contend in today’s NFL can never have enough pass rushers. The Steelers have a good foundation with which to work in outside linebackers T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, Markus Golden and Nate Herbig, along with defensive linemen Cameron Heyward and Larry Ogunjobi.
It sure would be nice to see second-year pro DeMarvin Leal emerge in that department like he was expected to coming out of Texas A&M.
Leal certainly has the athleticism and a motor that runs hot, giving him the all-important want-to. Entering Year 2 he lacks a go-to pass rush move and was unproductive in that role, which was a bit of a disappointment in his rookie season. Based on the charting done here at Steelers Depot, Leal registered just two pressures all season, one per every 46 rushes, a terrible number that must improve in 2023. There’s still always been questions about his run defense, too, making for a challenging second season ahead.
Now that he’s entering his second lap around the track, as head coach Mike Tomlin likes to say, Leal knows what to expect with the speed and physicality of the NFL game. He needs to tap back into that athleticism he displayed at A&M that made him such a disruptive force and an intriguing piece overall for the Steelers.
An improvement from an impact perspective as a pass rusher would allow the Steelers to rotate him in as a sub-package pass rusher, helping keep guys like Heyward and Ogunjobi fresh along the defensive line. The ability is there. It’s time to put it on tape in the NFL.
