The Pittsburgh Steelers’ offseason has been very busy and fun. The Black and Gold made a number of upgrades on both sides of the football.
Despite all of the upgrades, there are still plenty of questions in the eyes of ESPN analytics analyst Seth Walder, questions that leave him picking the Steelers fourth in the AFC North.
Appearing on the “Chipped Ham and Football” podcast with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Brian Batko, Walder raised questions about the quarterback situation and the roster overall, wondering if the Steelers are good enough to overcome average QB play in 2024.
“There’s a lot to like of what Pittsburgh has going on. I am down on the quarterbacks just from a standpoint of, like, what’s a reasonable expectation?” Walder said, according to audio via the Post-Gazette on YouTube. “I think reasonable expectation is that you get a below-average — like worse than 16th — quarterback play, and if it goes well, then you get somewhere in the order of average.
“And is this a roster that can take an average QB past all of the teams that you just mentioned? I don’t see it.”
The Steelers just showed last season that they were built to overcome average quarterback play. They went 10-7 under head coach Mike Tomlin while having to deal with the likes of Kenny Pickett, Mitch Trubisky, and Mason Rudolph. They got into the playoffs late in the season thanks to an impressive run from Rudolph in the season’s final three regular-season games,
They very clearly showed they were able to get past average to below-average quarterback play, even with some deficiencies. This offseason, GM Omar Khan and assistant GM Andy Weidl upgraded the roster across the board with some major moves, addressing the QB position and inside linebacker and rebuilding the offensive line.
On paper, the Steelers appear to be a much better team, one that is in a better position to overcome some struggles at the quarterback position, should those arise. This is especially true with a strong defense that added linebacker Patrick Queen, cornerback Donte Jackson, and safety DeShon Elliott in the offseason, not to mention linebacker Payton Wilson via the NFL Draft.
Walder didn’t highlight that, though. Instead, he wondered if the roster is good enough to overcome Russell Wilson’s average to below-average play and Justin Fields’s below-average play. That leads him to pick the Steelers fourth in the AFC North, a place they have never finished since the division’s inception in 2002.
“The defense could burn me here. There’s no question you have this pass rush. I think Joey Porter Jr. is really good. And I would buy all the stock I can in him. I think that Patrick Queen’s like a real big question mark, but they really didn’t pay that much for him,” Walder said of his reasoning for picking the Steelers fourth. “So, there’s upside. That all scares me, but I think there’s a lot to like about the other teams in the AFC North, and that’s really the crux of it. You have Baltimore with some questions, too, but they’re obviously coming off a season in which they were one of the best teams in football.
“I think that Cleveland, while I’m down on [Deshaun Watson], I think they were a team that should have traded for Fields. While I’m down on Watson. I think everything around him is really good, and that could pan out. It’s really interesting, it’s a really interesting division, I’ll put it that way. But if you’re making me pick, I’m picking Steelers fourth.”
The defense is much improved, which is saying something coming off of a great 2023 season that saw the Steelers hold opponents to just 19.1 points per game, which was sixth-best in the NFL. They did this while overcoming significant injuries across the board at multiple positions, leading to the Steelers mixing and matching down the stretch with practice squad players and guys fresh off the couch as free agents.
Now, the roster is stronger, especially on that side of the football, thanks to Khan and Weidl working their magic via trade, free agency, and the draft. The defense could—and probably should—burn Walder on his statement.
This team is better than it is getting credit for. That much is certain. It seems like the trendy thing to do to pick the Steelers last in the division, somewhere they haven’t finished since 1988. Don’t plan on it happening in 2024, either.
You can check out the full episode of “Chipped Ham and Football” with Batko and Walder below.
