There are two things we know about the Pittsburgh Steelers under head coach Mike Tomlin. He loves to run the ball and he wants a dominating defense. The Steelers finished top 10 in DVOA (Defense-adjusted Value Over Average) last season. Can they do it again?
CBSSports.com’s Jared Dubin sees it as “Somewhat Likely” in his ranking of which defenses are likely to be top 10 in 2024. He acknowledges that the Steelers almost always find a way with players like T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, and Cam Heyward. He just has questions elsewhere on the defense.
“The Steelers should be able to break into the top 10 again,” Dubin wrote. “But there are some questions at corner outside of Joey Porter Jr., and I’m probably more skeptical of the Patrick Queen addition than most. I’d just like to see that really high level of play next to not Roquan Smith before taking it to the bank.”
The corner position is arguably the Steelers’ biggest question mark on the defensive side of the ball. They did add CB Donte Jackson from the Carolina Panthers this offseason in exchange for WR Diontae Johnson. However, he hasn’t proven to be a consistent top corner in the league. He could be an important part of the defense but it’s a projection.
The Steelers also only drafted one defensive back in April in Ryan Watts and he’s splitting time between corner and safety so far this spring. The Steelers need someone to step up at outside corner opposite Porter. They also need someone to step up in the slot on the defensive side of the ball, too. Could it be undrafted free agent Beanie Bishop Jr.? That’s a big jump. Both of these spots could hurt the Steelers this season.
As for Queen, he did make strides once the Baltimore Ravens acquired Roquan Smith. There’s no denying that. However, Smith’s arrival in Baltimore coincided with Queen’s third season in the league. Also, he wasn’t terrible in his first two seasons.
It doesn’t hurt that Queen will be playing alongside Elandon Roberts versus L.J. Fort in his rookie season and a combination of Josh Bynes/Tyus Bowser in his second season. It will be interesting to see how Queen performs but to expect him to be ineffective seems illogical.
The cornerback question hangs heavier, though. It would not be a surprise to see the Steelers make some sort of move at some point this offseason to help the secondary.
