The debate of which organization in the National Football League will likely never end as fans will latch onto just about any vague statistic they can to make the case for their favorite team. However, when someone unaffiliated with a team makes a proclamation, it might just carry a bit more weight.
When former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf joined Good Morning Football Friday morning, he discussed quarterback matchups across the NFL for Week One. When it came to the Pittsburgh Steelers versus the San Francisco 49ers, he talked about second-year QB Kenny Pickett’s progression last year. That quickly turned to his thoughts on the Steelers organization as a whole.
“That’s what happens with Steelers, they get better,” Leaf said about Pickett improving over the course of his rookie season. “They’re the best organization in football. So, therefore I think they go out and have a heck of a year.”
The problem with the debate over the best organization is that everyone has a different metric by which to argue. Do you go by total championships? Do you only look at post-merger championships? Is it consistent winning over decades or are we talking about success in the last decade?
Leaf gives a good hint about one of his criteria, and that’s the development of players. We all know no team will hit on every single draft pick every year. This seems to be more about consistently having players improve. That’s what Leaf saw Pickett do over the course of the 2022 season (and we’ve seen it throughout training camp and preseason as well). Pittsburgh has also gained a reputation over the years for being quite good at finding and developing wide receivers. It’s almost without question that if the Steelers draft a receiver in the middle rounds of the NFL draft, he’s probably going to have at least one or two really good seasons.
Then there’s the stability factor at head coach. You’ve heard the statistic before that Pittsburgh has had three coaches since 1969: Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher, and Mike Tomlin. That’s absolutely unheard of in this sport. In fact, Tomlin is the second-longest tenured coach in the league as he enters his 17th season. Only Bill Belichick has coached for a single team longer as he kicks off his 24th season with the New England Patriots. Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh is only one season behind Tomlin.
Then there’s the fact that Tomlin has never had a losing season as head coach with Pittsburgh. That’s stability and consistency. Do fans want more success in terms of titles? Absolutely, and that’s the historical standard for the Steelers, who have won six Super Bowls. Another point toward the claim of the best organization. Now it’s time to see if Pickett and the team as a whole take the next step to contention. Leaf seems to think that a really good year is in store, at least.
