Now that the season is over and the NFL has moved full-on into the offseason, I felt it was a good time to revisit some content from just before the season, specifically my Ranking The Steelers’ Starters series, ranking the starters from No. 24 down to No. 1, including kicker and punter.
Of course, my projected starters didn’t exactly pan out, like Cameron Johnston at punter, who was lost for the season in the fourth quarter of the season opener in Atlanta, right guard James Daniels being lost for the season in Week 4 to a torn Achilles, or QB Russell Wilson missing the first six games of the season. But for the most part, the projected starters entering the season were the starters in the end.
Throughout the season, the Steelers looked quite good until December. Then, things fell off a cliff. Overall, it was good enough to get to 10-7 and make the playoffs, though they went one-and-done under head coach Mike Tomlin—again.
Still, I wanted to see how things stacked up from the end of the season compared to the rankings entering the season.
So, let’s jump right into it.
As a reminder, here’s the list from No. 24-1 ahead of training camp.
Here is how the rankings look so far:
No. 24 — Dan Moore Jr., LT
No. 23 — Darnell Washington, TE
No. 22 — Van Jefferson, WR
No. 21 — Zach Frazier, C
No. 20 — Larry Ogunjobi, DE
No. 19 — Cameron Johnston, P
No. 18 — Donte Jackson, CB
No. 17 — Elandon Roberts, ILB
No. 16 — Broderick Jones, RT
No. 15 — Keeanu Benton, NT
No. 14 — James Daniels, RG
No. 13 — DeShon Elliott, S
No. 12 — Najee Harris, RB
No. 11 — Russell Wilson, QB
No. 10 — Isaac Seumalo, LG
No. 9 — Pat Freiermuth, TE
No. 8 — George Pickens, WR
No. 7 — Joey Porter Jr., CB
No. 6 — Cameron Heyward, DE
No. 5 — Chris Boswell, K
No. 4 — Patrick Queen, LB
No. 3 — Alex Highsmith, OLB
No. 2 — Minkah Fitzpatrick, S
No. 1 — T.J. Watt, OLB
So, swap out Johnston for punter Corliss Waitman and place right guard Mason McCormick on the list for James Daniels. Those are the only big changes. Though Justin Fields started six games, he barely played in the second half of the season, and Wilson saw most of the snaps anyway, so it’s hard to rank his contributions.
Hopefully, he’s back for 2025.
Without further ado, let’s jump into the post-season Ranking the Steelers’ Starters, looking at No. 24-22 today.
No. 24 — Van Jefferson, WR
Coming into the season, WR2 opposite George Pickens was a real concern. Steelers’ GM Omar Khan tried to land Brandon Aiyuk in the offseason and then Christian Kirk in the regular season, but he wasn’t able to pull off those moves. That ultimately cost the Steelers, as Van Jefferson ended up being the Steelers’ WR2 for much of the season.
The production was, well, poor. Jefferson finished with just 24 receptions for 276 yards and two touchdowns. He added two receptions for 37 yards and a touchdown in the Wild Card round to the Baltimore Ravens.
Jefferson played 721 offensive snaps in the regular season and put himself in some poor company of receivers who played more than 700 snaps in a season and had such limited production as he did. Jefferson would have been a fine No. 4 or No. 5, one that plays hard, blocks, and can come up with the occasional big play.
But he was the No. 2 all season and just didn’t threaten teams on the outside.
No. 23 — Dan Moore Jr., LT
Things were looking so good in the first half of the season for LT Dan Moore Jr. The veteran left tackle seemingly had finally settled in and was playing some of the best football of his career. It wasn’t a surprise he was doing that, considering he was in a contract year. Moore set himself up for a big payday in free agency this offseason.
But then, after the Week.9 bye week for the Steelers, the bottom fell out from underneath Moore. The veteran left tackle reverted to who he was the first three years of his career, playing like one of the worst left tackles in football.
From Week 10 on, Moore allowed 10 of his 12 sacks in the regular season and 27 of his 41 pressures. According to Pro Football Focus, four times in the second half of the season, Moore was charged with allowing two or more sacks in a game, doing so against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 11, the Cleveland Browns in Week 12, and then against the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cincinnati Bengals in Weeks 17 and 18.
Moore ended up leading the NFL in sacks allowed in the regular season with 12. It was a tough way to enter free agency.
No. 22 — Corliss Waitman, P
After coming on in Week 2 due to the season-ending knee injury suffered by Cameron Johnston in the season-opener on the road against the Atlanta Falcons, Corliss Waitman played well for the Steelers, locking down the punting job for the Black and Gold.
Waitman seized upon the opportunity in his second go-round with the Steelers and showed he belongs in the NFL.
Waitman punted the football 65 times for the Steelers in 2024, averaging 41.4 net yards per punt, which matched his numbers in 2022 with the Denver Broncos. However, Waitman saw a significant increase in the percentage of punts downed inside the 20-yard line, increasing from 31.3% in 2022 to 41.5% this season with the Steelers, with 27 of his 65 punts landing inside the 20-yard line.
He also helped the Steelers allow just 201 return yards on the season. It’s pretty solid stuff for a guy coming off the street and holding down the starting punting job — and holding job — all season long for a playoff team.
