In just 15 days, the Pittsburgh Steelers will report to Saint Vincent College in Latrobe for another edition of training camp at the historic college campus in the heart of rural Western Pennsylvania.
Those fifteen days will fly by, but for today, 15 is an interesting number. The Steelers don’t find themselves inside the top 15 of the latest pre-training camp power rankings from Touchdown Wire Tuesday, landing at No. 18 overall in Natalie Miller’s rankings.
Following an offseason in which GM Omar Khan addressed a number of holes on the roster with intriguing veteran free agent signings and hit a bunch of home runs in the 2023 NFL Draft, the Steelers look to be in pretty good shape — at least on paper — entering training camp. Yet, Miller has the Steelers at No. 18 overall, well outside of the top half of the league and between the Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints.
“The Steelers seemed to find their rhythm towards the end of last season, with rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett clicking and making big plays for the black and yellow. With upgrades along the offensive line and a healthy T.J. Watt, Pittsburgh could easily make a leap back into the playoff fold,” Miller writes regarding the Steelers and their No. 18 ranking.Â
Pittsburgh absolutely found its rhythm in the second half of the season, going 7-2 down the stretch after getting healthy, finishing 9-8 on the year.
Then-rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett settled into his role as the starting quarterback and stopped turning the ball over like he did early on in the season. The Steelers also really leaned on the rushing attack, which produced the No. 7 rushing attack in the second half of the season, correlating with the strong close to the season.
Not only that, the Steelers got healthy on the other side of the football with the return of T.J. Watt and veteran safety Damontae Kazee, allowing them to do what they envisioned doing defensively in 2022. That led to the unit dominating down the stretch defensively, helping Pittsburgh win a number of low-scoring, ugly games overall.
Now, with added weapons offensively and a rebuilt defense overall, Pittsburgh appears poised to make a playoff push in 2023. The offensive line is better with the additions of Isaac Seumalo and Broderick Jones, Watt is fully healthy again and holes have been plugged top to bottom on the roster.
If Pickett can make that Year 2 leap that many are anticipating, the Steelers could be a legitimate contender in the AFC. That’s why they should be higher on this power ranking, especially ahead of the Panthers, who just had the No. 1 pick in the draft a few months. It’s not a surprise to see the Steelers last in the AFC North in the power rankings with Cincinnati at No. 4, Baltimore at No. 11 and Cleveland at No. 16, but being behind the Panthers and in the same group as the Saints and even the rebuilding Buccaneers feels like a bit of disrespect.
