Minicamp is over for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who seemingly took advantage of the offseason workouts to up the intensity and lay a foundation for expectations this season.
But with minicamp now in the rearview mirror, we enter into a six-week dead period for the Steelers, who will report to training camp on July 24 and have their first practice at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe on July 25. In the next six weeks, it will be rather quiet, outside of potential extensions for tight end Pat Freiermuth and defensive lineman Cameron Heyward, or maybe even a surprise trade or signing of a receiver.
Knowing it’ll be quiet, I wanted to roll out my Ranking The Steelers’ Starters series here at Steelers Depot once again. In case you missed the first part of this year’s series, you can read No. 24-22 here.
Below is the list of projected starters that I am using for the series. The series features a two-tight end, 12-personnel set, and base package football defensively. That means just one running back, so I had to choose between Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren as the starter. I also ditched the three-CB look defensively to go back to the traditional 3-4 scheme.
Therefore, that means you won’t see names like Cameron Sutton or Damontae Kazee defensively, but you will see Keeanu Benton this summer after not being included last summer.
This is the starting lineup that I believe will be rolled out in Week 1 against the Atlanta Falcons on the road.
*italics indicates players are already ranked in the series.
Offense
QB — Russell Wilson
RB — Najee Harris
WR — George Pickens
WR – Van Jefferson
TE — Pat Freiermuth
TE — Darnell Washington
LT — Dan Moore Jr.
LG — Isaac Seumalo
C — Zach Frazier
RG — James Daniels
RT – Broderick Jones
Defense
DE — Cameron Heyward
DE — Larry Ogunjobi
NT — Keeanu Benton
OLB — Alex Highsmith
ILB — Elandon Roberts
ILB — Patrick Queen
OLB — T.J. Watt
CB — Joey Porter Jr.
CB — Donte Jackson
S — Minkah Fitzpatrick
S — DeShon Elliott
Specialists
K – Chris Boswell
P — Cameron Johnston
With that out of the way, let’s dive into the next segment of the Ranking The Steelers’ Starters series, looking at No. 21-19.
No. 21 — Zach Frazier, C
For the first time in three years, it feels like the Steelers are in great shape at the center position long-term. Though Frazier ranks lower than Mason Cole (No. 16) in this series last summer, it was very hard for me to project Frazier higher than this currently because he is largely an unknown in the NFL, though I do believe he’ll be a high-end starter for a long time for the Black and Gold.
Frazier brings serious toughness and strength to the center position for the Steelers, and will be a lead-by-example guy moving forward. He will help set the tone from a run-game perspective, too, which will be huge for the Steelers on the interior.
He’s the not biggest or the best athlete, but he’s a football player through and through, and finds ways to win over and over.
No. 20 — Larry Ogunjobi, DL
This is a massive fall for Larry Ogunjobi, who ranked No. 11 last summer. But the fall to No. 20 this summer shows how much of a disappointment he’s largely been, and how relatively ineffective he’s been at times for the Steelers.
Though the veteran defensive lineman was able to play every game and nearly 70% of the snaps for the Steelers in 2023, he didn’t quite produce the way he was expected to. Ogunjobi had 3 sacks on the season but produced just 3 tackles for loss, a career-worst.
He also had just 43 tackles, which was his lowest total in a season since his rookie year in 2017. According to Pro Football Focus, Ogunjobi graded out at just a 59.2 overall on the season, including a 53.2 against the run and a 59.2 rushing the passer. He had just 35 pressures, too.
The Steelers were expecting more — a lot more — when they signed him to a three-year deal to retain him in free agency last offseason. He just hasn’t been what was expected across two seasons. Ogunjobi should lose some sub-package playing time to Keeanu Benton this season, too.
Steady defender overall, but just leaves so much to be desired, especially considering his early career.
No. 19 — Cameron Johnston, P
A punter ahead of two key trench pieces? Yes. Cameron Johnston is that good.
The Steelers did very well to land one of the best punters in football in free agency, signing Johnston to a three-year, $9 million deal.
In six seasons in the NFL, Johnson has averaged at least 46.4 punting yards every year in his career and at least a 40.6 net yards per punt figure every year of his career. For his NFL career, he’s averaged 42.2 net punting yards, which is a significant upgrade on the numbers former Steelers’ punter Pressley Harvin III was putting up in Pittsburgh (39.4).
With the style of football that the Steelers like to play, which is low-scoring football games leaning heavily on a star-studded defense, the punter is so incredibly important. Harvin has let them down in the past, but Johnston shouldn’t. He should really help flip the field, pin teams deep and set up the defense in good position consistently.
