The Pittsburgh Steelers under general manager Omar Khan have had a busy offseason. Their biggest moves reset the quarterback room entirely, and Khan and company also addressed other areas of the roster. That effort to address needs in a big way wasn’t lost on Cody Benjamin of CBSSports.com.
Benjamin published his list of the top positional makeovers of the offseason on CBSSports.com Tuesday morning, and the Steelers took the top spot in two rooms while garnering an honorable mention for a third. It all starts at the linebacker position where he highlighted the additions of Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson.
“Forever committed to old-school, tough-as-nails defense, Pittsburgh purged a rangy playmaker from one of its top rivals in Queen, who excelled as Roquan Smith’s sidekick in 2023,” Benjamin wrote. “But Wilson is equally as intriguing despite injury concerns, coming out of [NC State] as a tenacious and instinctual tackler.”
It’s not every day that a player flips directly from one side of the Baltimore-Pittsburgh rivalry to the other, but that’s exactly what happened when Queen signed with the Steelers in free agency. Benjamin isn’t kidding when he calls Queen a “rangy playmaker” either. Queen has the ability to make plays downfield (four interceptions and 15 passes defended) and behind the line of scrimmage (13.5 sacks, 33 quarterback hits, and 37 tackles for a loss).
As for Wilson, he showed an ability at the college level to be just as rangy a playmaker as Queen despite his injury history. He wrecked opposing offenses behind the line of scrimmage (15 sacks, 48 tackles for a loss) and down the field (seven interceptions, 13 passes defended). There’s no question that the Steelers added two big-time playmakers at a position that lacked playmaking outside of Elandon Roberts last season,
The linebacker position wasn’t the only spot that the Steelers gained top marks from Benjamin. He loved the work Khan did with the special teams unit, adding P Cameron Johnston and KR Cordarrelle Patterson.
“Johnston netted a big free-agent deal after ranking in the top five for inside-the-20 punting percentage in 2023, his third year with the Houston Texans,” Benjamin wrote. “Patterson, meanwhile, is older at 33, but offers a ton of explosive return experience as the NFL reincentivizes kickoff returns.”
The Steelers released P Pressley Harvin III after a tumultuous 2023 that saw him finish the season with the third-fewest net yards per punt in the league. It’s a big contrast from Johnston, which underscores how big of a makeover the Steelers had at the punter position. Factor in the addition of Patterson, who has the most kickoffs returned for touchdowns in NFL history, and it’s a no-brainer.
Oh, and the quarterback room reset I mentioned? Benjamin did note that it was one of the “other candidates” he considered.
