As the offseason rolls right along here at Steelers Depot, so too does my post-season edition of the Ranking The Steelers’ Starters series.
For the first time ever, I am rolling this out for Steelers Depot, taking a look back at the work I did in the summer leading up to training camp and the preseason and re-evaluating my list overall.
There were some hits, some misses, and a lot of in between looking back on it.
With that said, it’s now time to see how things shake out following the season when ranking the Steelers’ starters. In case you missed the first part of the series, you can read that here.
As a reminder, here’s the list from No. 24-1 ahead of training camp.
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
No. 12 — Chris Boswell, K
No. 11 — Larry Ogunjobi, DE
No. 10 — George Pickens, WR
No. 9 — Najee Harris, RB
No. 8 — Pat Freiermuth, TE
No. 7 — Isaac Seumalo, LG
No. 6 — Diontae Johnson, WR
No. 5 — James Daniels, RG
No. 4 — Alex Highsmith, OLB
No. 3 — Cameron Heyward, DE
No. 2 — T.J. Watt, OLB
No. 1 — Minkah Fitzpatrick, S
Swap out Pressley Harvin III at punter for Mann and Broderick Jones in for Chukwuma Okorafor as those were really the only changes. I’ll still include Cole Holcomb in the rankings as he was a starter for most of the season before getting hurt, and the Steelers didn’t exactly have another linebacker that played starter-level snaps after his injury in replacing him.
So far, here is the list for the post-season rankings:
No. 24 — Pressley Harvin III, P
No. 23 — Dan Moore Jr., OT
No. 22 — Mason Cole, C
Let’s jump into the next portion of the post-season rankings, focusing on No. 21-19 today.
No. 21 — Levi Wallace, CB
After landing at No. 22 in the pre-season rankings, Wallace moves up one spot in the post-season rankings, though his play didn’t exactly warrant it. It’s more about players that were ahead of him taking a precipitous fall, like Mason Cole, rather than Wallace’s play earning him a bump up.
At times during the 2023 season, Wallace was the forgotten man, passed over by Joey Porter Jr. and then largely without a role until later in the season when injuries took its toll on the Steelers’ secondary. When he was on the field, teams went right after him, targeting him time and time again.
Wallace allowed 40 receptions for 569 yards and six touchdowns on 75 targets, giving up a career-worst 93.7 QB rating against when targeted in coverage. Though he allowed a reception on just 53.3% of targets, he gave up big plays consistently and was part of some ugly miscommunications in the secondary. Now, he’s poised to hit free agency.
No. 20 — Damontae Kazee, S
What a mess of a season for Damontae Kazee. From mental errors in coverage do bone-headed decisions making hits leading to a three-game suspension, Kazee really didn’t help himself much.
Looking to build off of a strong close to the 2022 season, Kazee earned a two-year deal from the Steelers ahead of free agency and largely fell flat. He had just two interceptions, three pass breakups, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. While he did provide a respected physical presence on the back end, he was a disaster from a tackling perspective, tying for the team lead in missed tackles on the season with 13.
He’ll be back for the 2024 season as a key figure in the secondary, but it’s hard to get truly excited about that due to the mental errors, poor tackling and reputation he now has as a physical defender that has him under the microscope from the NFL.
No. 19 — Allen Robinson II, WR
When the Steelers made the trade to acquire Allen Robinson II from the Los Angeles Rams ahead of the 2023 NFL Draft, I felt it was a solid move that gave the Steelers a dependable veteran receiver to handle the slot role. For the most part, that is what he was this past season. He just wasn’t all that productive.
Robinson had just 34 receptions for 280 yards on the season and was rarely used in the passing game. Where he made his mark though was as a blocker. He was strong in that area of the game, helping the Steelers still be able to run the football in three wide receiver sets. Though he wasn’t exactly a perfect fit for that role, Robinson embraced it and ran with it, garnering respect from teammates.
We’ll see what the Steelers decide to do with him financially this offseason considering his hefty price tag and not having the production to match.
