Throughout the rest of the offseason, the Steelers Depot crew will debate a number of hot-button topics ahead of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ season. We weigh in on each side of a discussion while you tell us who you agree with.
Today’s topic: Which Pittsburgh Steeler is more valuable to the team in 2024 — WR George Pickens or CB Joey Porter Jr.?
Alex Kozora: The Steelers Offense Needs George Pickens
I’m as excited about Porter Jr. as anyone. He has the ceiling to become a top-five cornerback if all goes well this year. But the Steelers have this Clark Kent superpower of weathering any defensive storm. Last year is a perfect example. Lost Cam Heyward and Minkah Fitzpatrick for the year? See almost all your inside linebackers get depleted and make in-season switches like Patrick Peterson to safety? Roll out Mykal Walker, Eric Rowe and Myles Jack? No sweat. Pittsburgh still finished with the sixth-best scoring defense, top 10 in takeaways and fifth-best in the red zone.
With a defensive-heavy staff, especially one slanted to the secondary (Mike Tomlin and Teryl Austin both cut their teeth coaching DBs), the Steelers stay light on their feet here. They can scheme to mask and hide issues to survive and even thrive. If Porter went down, the Steelers could no longer travel a corner against top receivers. But the strength of their front seven, pass rush and collective coaching mind would get them through the day.
Offensively? Whole different story. If this team loses a backup tight end, it feels like the house is on fire. Tried and true offensive coordinator Arthur Smith can hopefully course correct when adversity strikes, but this offense has felt fragile for years, dating back to even Ben Roethlisberger’s final few seasons.
George Pickens is the only wide receiver this team can count on. Entering his third year, he should be better than ever and improve on the leaps he made as a sophomore. He’s the guy you can throw the ball up to and make a play, but Smith should scheme him open more effectively, too. Without him, your wide receiver core looks like a bunch of guys. That’ll allow teams to constrict the middle of the field and stuff the run with more ease while taking away Pittsburgh’s potency to hit the big play over the top. We’ve seen this story before. Good defense and lackluster offense gets the Steelers to the playoffs but not a postseason win. Without Pickens, that chapter gets re-written.
Ross McCorkle: Without Joey Porter Jr., The Secondary Doesn’t Work
There is little to debate when it comes to George Pickens’ importance to the receiver room. If something were to happen to him, the Steelers would be in trouble with their passing game. But is passing really going to be the Steelers’ bread and butter anyways? On offense, the Steelers could work around Pickens a little easier by playing a ground-and-pound style of offense with heavy utilization of tight ends and speedy WRs in the passing game.
If Joey Porter Jr. was removed from the defense, I don’t think the secondary would be able to function. On defense, you are at the mercy of what opposing offenses want to do, and you can bet they would be looking to pass heavily on this team if CB1 was Donte Jackson and CB2 was Cameron Sutton. Jackson is better suited to cover teams’ WR2, and Sutton struggled mightily as an outside corner last year in Detroit. He is better suited to be moved around and used in the slot.
That would also force someone like Beanie Bishop Jr., Josiah Scott, or Grayland Arnold into slot responsibilities. Maybe one of them surprises at training camp, but the outlook of slot corner wasn’t too bright prior to Sutton being signed.
And that is all without taking into account Sutton’s looming suspension from his arrest earlier this offseason. If he is forced to miss four to six games, that would be hugely detrimental to the defense without Porter on the roster. Taking away a team’s WR1 has a large impact on the flow of a game, and Porter did that better than most as a rookie last season. He should be even better in his second year, and losing him would have a profound impact on the secondary and the defense in general.
