The Pittsburgh Steelers are fully into offseason mode, and so are we here at Steelers Depot. With the Super Bowl matchup set and the East-West Shrine Bowl and the Senior Bowl now behind us, we press on with the Ranking The Steelers’ Starters series, this being the post-season edition of the rankings.
There’s still a sour taste in the collective mouth of Steeler Nation regarding how the season ended with five straight losses and another blowout loss in the playoffs, but at some point that taste will have to fade. Knowing that, I wanted to take a look at my preseason starters rankings compared to the season that was just completed.
So, that’s what we’re doing today, taking a look at No. 12-10 after looking at No. 15-13, No. 18-16, No. 21-19 and No. 24-22 previously.
As a reminder, here’s the list from No. 24-1 ahead of training camp.
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
And here is how the post-season Ranking The Steelers’ Starters series looks so far:
No. 24 — Van Jefferson, WR
No. 23 — Dan Moore Jr., LT
No. 22 — Corliss Waitman, P
No. 21 — Broderick Jones, RT
No. 20 — Larry Ogunjobi, DE
No. 19 — Darnell Washington, TE
No. 18 — Donte Jackson, CB
No. 17 — Mason McCormick, RG
No. 16 — Keeanu Benton, NT
No. 15 — Elandon Roberts, ILB
No. 14 — Najee Harris, RB
No. 13 — Pat Freiermuth, TE
Again, a reminder: Mason McCormick is at RG for the injured James Daniels. I won’t have names like Justin Fields, Nick Herbig or Payton Wilson ranked here, because they didn’t play true starter snaps.
Without further ado, let’s jump into the postseason Ranking the Steelers’ Starters, looking at No. 12-10 today.
No. 12 — Patrick Queen, ILB
Queen was the big splash signing in free agency, and great expectations in 2024 were placed on him coming over from Baltimore. Though he was a three-down linebacker and a hub of communication for the Steelers’ defense wearing the green dot, Queen had significant struggles in 2024.
Queen finished with a team-best 129 tackles, six tackles for loss, seven pass deflections, two forced fumbles, and one sack. But he left quite a bit to be desired overall. He played 1,164 snaps on the season for the Steelers, and graded out at a 56.8 overall from Pro Football Focus. Coverage was an issue, particularly in man, as he was charged with 67 receptions allowed on 81 targets for 728 yards and a touchdown.
He also missed 22 tackles on the season, according to charting from Steelers Depot, and had a 13.7% missed tackles rate. Queen did make some plays though, including in a Week 11 win over the Ravens at Acrisure Stadium in his first matchup with his old team, stripping the ball from TE Isaiah Likely deep in the Ravens’ own end.
The veteran linebacker has to be better in Year 2 in Pittsburgh though.
No. 11 — Russell Wilson, QB
Entering the starting lineup in Week 7 after missing the first six weeks with a calf injury suffered in training camp, Wilson got off to a fast start in his Steelers’ tenure. He led the Steelers to four straight wins, then later had the second-best passing output of his career on the road against the Bengals, throwing for 414 yards in a shootout win. At the point, things looked so promising.
Then, it all came crashing down. The Steelers didn’t score more than 17 points in a game the rest of the season, lost five straight games and were largely dreadful in all three phases of the game. Wilson took a nose-dive, too. He started turning the ball over and making silly mistakes by holding onto the ball too long, taking bad sacks, and being unable to properly execute a two-minute drive in Week 18.
While he threw a great deep ball all season long, he showed late in the year that he wasn’t the type of quarterback to truly elevate the Steelers at this point in his career, and now hits free agency with plenty of uncertainty regarding his future in the Steel City.
No. 10 — George Pickens, WR
As the clear-cut No. 1 receiver in Pittsburgh following the offseason trade of Diontae Johnson and the failure to land another big-time receiver opposite him, Pickens had some good moments in 2024 for the Steelers. He was a consistent downfield threat, especially after Russell Wilson was inserted into the lineup, and was showing flashes of really developing into that elite receiver.
But once again, Pickens couldn’t stay out of his own way, ending his third season in Pittsburgh in disappointing fashion.
Despite hauling in 59 receptions for 900 yards and three touchdowns, making some big plays down the field throughout the season, Pickens had some frustrating moments this season that leave one scratching their head. The two personal foul penalties in Cincinnati in Week 13 for celebrating post-play by dropping the ball on a defender and later mimicking firing a gun led head coach Mike Tomlin to state that Pickens has to grow up and grow up fast.
There was also the moment in Week 5 against Dallas in which Pickens had an expletive written out on his eye black and then got into a bit of a scuffle with Cowboys’ cornerback Jourdan Lewis after that loss.
He’s an immensely talented receiver that seemingly can’t stay out of his own way time and time again. And now, he enters a huge offseason in not just his tenure with the Steelers, but potentially the NFL as well.
