In a little under a week, the legal tampering period in the NFL will begin, which should create some serious storylines regarding player movement in free agency.
For now, we’re stuck in the slow part of the offseason as endless speculation continues to drive the talk shows and the daily chatter regarding certain players, positions and teams. It can get overwhelming — and downright boring.
Good news, though! I am here to entertain you, or at least try to, with my Ranking The Steelers’ Starters post-season series.
Today, let’s continue rolling right along in my post-season Ranking The Steelers’ Starters series, re-hashing my preseason starters ranking from No. 24-1 for the Black and Gold. Most recently, I looked at No. 9-7.
As a reminder, here’s the list of Steelers’ rankings 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 for Chukwuma Okorafor at right tackle as those were really the only changes. I’ll still include Cole Holcomb in the rankings as he was a starter for more than half of the season before getting hurt and the Steelers didn’t exactly have another linebacker who played starter-level snaps while replacing him.
So far, here is the list for the post-season Steelers’ rankings:
No. 24 — Pressley Harvin III, P
No. 23 — Dan Moore Jr., OT
No. 22 — Mason Cole, C
No. 21 — Levi Wallace, CB
No. 20 — Damontae Kazee, S
No. 19 — Allen Robinson II, WR
No. 18 — Kenny Pickett, QB
No. 17 — Larry Ogunjobi, DE
No. 16 — Patrick Peterson, CB
No. 15 — Broderick Jones, OT
No. 14 — Pat Freiermuth, TE
No. 13 — Cole Holcomb, LB
No. 12 — Cameron Heyward, DE
No. 11 — James Daniels, RG
No. 10 — Elandon Roberts, LB
No. 9 — Diontae Johnson, WR
No. 8 — Isaac Seumalo, LG
No. 7 — Najee Harris, RB
As the offseason continues, it’s time to look at No. 6-4 in the Ranking The Steelers’ Starters Post-Season Edition.
No. 6 — Minkah Fitzpatrick, S
After landing at No. 1 entering the 2024 season, Minkah Fitzpatrick falls five spots following a very frustrating season with the Black and Gold. He dealt with multiple injuries, including a hamstring injury, knee injury and a broken hand, which affected his production. He also had to move around quite a bit and wear a number of hats in a secondary that had plenty of struggles throughout the season.
It was very reminiscent of his 2021 season in that regard. While he was solid on the back end, covering up a lot of issues for the Steelers, he wasn’t the usual, game-changing Minkah Fitzpatrick.
No. 5 — Joey Porter Jr., CB
What a breakout for the Penn State product in his rookie season. Though he was brought along slowly early as the team limited his exposure to the NFL game, once he was on the field, he became a true shutdown, No. 1 corner. Porter was inserted into the starting lineup in Week 8 and never looked back.
His length, which was his calling card coming out of Penn State, stood out right away, as did his physicality in coverage. He was able to take away top receivers throughout the season, handling the top matchups weekly in impressive fashion, even asking the coaching staff early on in his tenure to give him the top assignments. He never backed down from a challenge.
While Porter was largely outstanding during his rookie season, penalties were an issue. He was a bit too grabby at times, but that’s part of the adjustment to the NFL game from college. The future looks incredibly bright for Porter. The Steelers finally found an answer at corner.
No. 4 — George Pickens, WR
Though he created quite a few off-the-field headaches for the coaching staff, teammates and fan base, George Pickens also created a bunch of headaches for opposing defenses in 2023. Putting together the first 1,000-yard season of his career, he finished with 63 receptions for 1,140 yards and five touchdowns.
When he was locked in and focused on the task at hand, he was fantastic. Pickens had five 100-yard receiving games in 2023, breaking out in a major way even with the issues the Steelers had at quarterback throughout the season. He was a force to be reckoned with and made some truly spectacular plays in his second NFL season.
His development as a route runner and improvement with the football in his hand after the catch were noteworthy. He is rounding into a truly terrifying player for defenses to deal with.
