We’re back for another edition of our yearly Steelers Depot Awards, handing out honors to the 2023 Pittsburgh Steelers. Because if T.J. Watt isn’t going to win Defensive Player of the Year for the NFL, he might as well win an award here. Over the next several days, several writers on the Depot team will cast their ballots for each category. They, along with the rest of our crew who will submit name-only ballots, will determine the winners of this year’s list.
Today, my selections for the Steelers’ 2023 awards.
Offensive MVP – RB Jaylen Warren
Maybe one year the offense will run so well it’ll be difficult to make a selection. But Warren feels like the obvious and best choice. Although RB Najee Harris got more carries and had more overall production, Warren was always consistent. He was the guy providing the big play in key moments, providing splash and energy to an offense that lacked it for long stretches of the season.
Warren averaged 5.3 yards per carry, narrowly missing out on the NFL’s top mark for a qualifying running back, and his combination of explosiveness, power, and boundless energy was impressive. When no one else on offense could make a play, Warren did, like his 74-yard touchdown romp against the Cleveland Browns in Week 11, the Steelers’ longest rushing score since Willie Parker in Super Bowl XL.
In the passing game, he finished second on the team with 61 receptions, just two behind WR George Pickens. He was good in pass protection, especially the latter half of the year when the offense better adjusted to blitz and overload rushes. His ability to stand up linebackers in the hole is among the best in football.
There are other worthy names on this list, including QB Mason Rudolph. Without him, the Steelers probably don’t make the playoffs. But his three-game sample size isn’t enough to qualify for the overall MVP and Warren was there every game making plays and going all-out.
Defensive MVP – EDGE T.J. Watt
I wanted to be cute with the pick and select someone else. I thought about it. But in the end, you can’t ignore Watt’s value. Or his production. The Steelers continue proving they can’t win without him, losing the Wild Card game he sat out, and Watt had another great year. Leading the league in sacks for the third time of his career, the first player in official league history to ever do so, his 19 were 1.5 more than any other player in football. He forced fumbles, he batted down passes, he made tackles for loss in the run game, he even notched a beautiful interception after dropping into coverage in a Week Seven win over the Los Angeles Rams.
So of course this award goes to Watt. And it will be his each year that he stays healthy.
Rookie of the Year – CB Joey Porter Jr.
Good competition for this award, a strong sign for the Steelers’ 2023 rookie class. In the end, Porter edges out NT Keeanu Benton and OLB Nick Herbig. While those players showed promise, Porter had the difficulty of travelling with the opponent’s top receiver over the second half of the season. Locking down WR DeAndre Hopkins in the second half of Week Nine helped push Pittsburgh to victory. Even early in the season, he had the game-sealing breakup in the Week Two victory over the Cleveland Browns.
Porter is competitive and bounced back from mistakes and plays he gave up. He greatly improved his tackling, is better in zone than credited, and has the alpha mentality to want to shadow opposing top wide receivers. When we pull his numbers for our charting, he should lead the pack. In weeks, he established himself as the team’s top corner able to travel with the offense’s No. 1 wideout, something the Steelers haven’t had since Ike Taylor.
Biggest Surprise – QB Mason Rudolph
No-brainer here. Rudolph leading the Steelers out of a three-game losing streak and into the playoffs wouldn’t have been among my first 1,000 guesses for how this season would’ve turned out. With no other option, Tomlin gave Rudolph the nod in Week 16. All Rudolph did was to have the best QB showing of the post-Ben Roethlisberger era, drubbing the Bengals with big play after big play in a 34-11 win, proving Pittsburgh is legally allowed to win a game by more than four points.
Rudolph was the Steelers’ guy the rest of the way, even after Kenny Pickett’s ankle healed. He led a tough road victory over the Seattle Seahawks and though he wasn’t sparkling in a rain storm against Baltimore, Rudolph put a fourth-quarter throw on the money to spring WR Diontae Johnson for a long touchdown to seal the win.
Rudolph went from afterthought to center stage and made himself some serious money this offseason. It just remains to be seen if that occurs in Pittsburgh or elsewhere.
Biggest Disappointment – QB Kenny Pickett
Listen, I know we can go round and round about the issues surrounding Pickett, things out of his control and what kind of future he has. We’ll talk about it all summer. But he’s the clear choice for biggest disappointment. A good summer, an excellent preseason, Pickett had the look of someone ready to make a second-year jump. Instead, he landed with a splat.
The production wasn’t there. Six touchdowns in 12 starts. A completion percentage that regressed. There were clutch moments, a handful of impressive throws, and the Steelers were competitive with him. He didn’t lose games. But he didn’t do enough to win them either and was legitimately struggling in the middle portion of the season in losses to the Jacksonville Jaguars (injured in the first half, missing multiple halves or full games this season) and the Cleveland Browns.
This was supposed to be the breakout. Instead, Pickett looked closer to being broken. And when Rudolph got hot at the end of the season, Pickett lost his job. It makes 2024 make or break. He has to show he can be a top 10 quarterback in football. To date, he hasn’t.
Others worthy of consideration included center Mason Cole, far worse in 2023 than 2022, and DL DeMarvin Leal, who is shaping up to be a bust hardly anyone even recognizes.
Most Underrated – OG Isaac Seumalo
Debated between Seumalo and LB Elandon Roberts but Roberts got a bit more notice than Seumalo. A free agent signing, Seumalo was solid and steady. He deserves the biggest props for playing hurt after injuring his right shoulder in Week 13 against the Arizona Cardinals. He missed the second half but not a game after that, playing on multiple short weeks.
Clearly hurting, he somehow elevated his play and mauled in the run game while anchoring in pass protection. His pancake of Ravens stud DT Justin Madubuike was one of the best blocks of the year.
He quietly went about his job and did it well while doing it hurt. In our yearly sack breakdown, we charged Seumalo for just one sack and one accepted penalty allowed. Elite numbers. Underrated dude.
Play of the Year – WR George Pickens’ 86-Yard Touchdown
Who wants a Hollywood moment? Week 16 against the Cincinnati Bengals. Mason Rudolph’s first pass in years. And it becomes an 86-yard touchdown to WR George Pickens. Granted, Pickens did much of the heavy lifting, taking a short slant to the house, but Rudolph put it on the money.
It became a sign of things to come, both men putting on a show to blowout the Bengals and begin Pittsburgh’s resurgence into the playoffs. One of those plays where you look around and think, “Did that just happen?” for the best possible reasons. And for Pickens, the perfect way to quiet the firestorm of criticism following his loafing block the previous week against the Indianapolis Colts.
Coach of the Year – DBs Coach Grady Brown
Gotta give credit to first-year LBs Coach Aaron Curry for the job he did with that MASH unit. But Brown didn’t have an easy time either. Pittsburgh was impacted by losses at safety just as heavily as it was at inside linebacker. Minkah Fitzpatrick, Keanu Neal, Trenton Thompson, and Damontae Kazee all unavailable late in the year.
It forced Patrick Peterson to make the full-time conversion from corner to safety while Eric Rowe was plucked off the street and elevated to the 53-man roster within a month. Both held the fort down, even if Peterson faded toward the end as a tackler. Still, Brown kept the group and all the moving pieces that came along with it together.
Elsewhere, CB Joey Porter Jr. emerged as the team’s top corner, shadowing and eliminating opposing top targets. Watch the sideline and Brown was as visible as anyone, practically standing on the field at times and constantly going over coaching points with Porter post-play. The Steelers have their first lockdown corner since Ike Taylor. Even guys like NCB Chandon Sullivan played good ball down the stretch while Miles Killebrew stepped up in dime packages.
All told, Pittsburgh’s secondary locked things down in the red zone and picked off a bunch of passes. Brown is a rising stud who has proved he can be light on his feet while developing stars. He should receive looks around the league to become a defensive coordinator.
2024 Player to Watch – EDGE Nick Herbig
Playing behind T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith and rotating with Markus Golden doesn’t lend itself to many chances. Herbig made the most of them. He ended his rookie year with five tackles for a loss, three sacks, two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery. He stuck out in camp with his energy and burst and carried that over into the regular season, becoming a core special teamer while biding his time to play defensively.
With Golden a pending free agent, Herbig should increase his snap count as a sophomore. From there, all it’ll take is one injury for Herbig to become an every-down player. While he’s unlikely to sustain his efficiency, more snaps evening out his insane pace, it will be exciting to see how Herbig builds upon his tools and work ethic.
Best Addition – LB Elandon Roberts
Roberts initially felt like the third wheel in the Steelers’ inside linebacker room, rotating behind Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander. But once those two were lost to season-ending injuries, Roberts became *the* guy and responded. He communicated well, covered better than expected, was a force against the run, and a warrior who played through groin, pec, and who knows what else at the end of the season.
He’s everything the team hoped he’d be and more and deserves to come back for the second year of his contract, something I questioned when he first signed. Wow was I wrong.
Most Notable Storyline – Mike Tomlin’s Future
I ran through a couple different options of the most notable storyline arc throughout the year, good or bad. There was the endless George Pickens drama. There was the in-season firing of OC Matt Canada, a franchise first. But I landed on Mike Tomlin. For the first time in his 17-year tenure, the national media had a legitimate conversation on if Tomlin’s time in Pittsburgh was nearing its end.
Obviously, it’s not. Tomlin will return in 2024 with a contract extension in hand. And questions over Tomlin’s future have largely subsided. But there was a time where he was the topic of conversation as the media began to understand frustration around the Steelers’ lack of playoff wins, zero since 2016. No question, Tomlin’s back to status quo, revered and praised for his “never had a losing season” streak but it was interesting to see the national sports world grapple with a conversation they had never had before.
Most Missed – DL Cam Heyward
While this could be awarded to a player lost in the previous offseason or season injury, it’s obvious the “award” goes to Heyward. Completely tearing his groin in Week One, Heyward wouldn’t return until Week Nine and wasn’t close to full health even when he stepped back onto the grass.
Pittsburgh’s lack of suitable replacements were exposed. DeMarvin Leal offered little while Isaiahh Loudermilk, despite some improvement later in the season, showed a low ceiling. Larry Ogunjobi was invisible too often and outside of Keeanu Benton and the occasional moment from Montravius Adams, the Steelers’ d-line contributed little. The run defense suffered and their pressure wasn’t there. Even assuming Heyward’s 2024 return, the Steelers must find his long-term replacement sooner than later.
