The Pittsburgh Steelers looked like a pretty average team in 2024. It wasn’t always the case, as Pittsburgh did manage a 10-3 record out of the gate and even once had the potential to land the first seed in the conference. Unfortunately, as we all know by now, things did not finish on a high note. According to NFL.com’s Eric Edholm, the Steelers haven’t improved too much. Edholm published his most recent power rankings on Monday and had the Steelers 15th in the NFL.
“What do we make of the Steelers? They swung a dramatic trade for DK Metcalf, which certainly changed the mojo around this team,” Edholm wrote. “But the follow-ups are obvious: Who will throw him the ball? And how do Metcalf and George Pickens coexist? Now we wait. If Rodgers isn’t brought into the fold, going into the draft with only Mason Rudolph and Skylar Thompson as quarterback feels like an awfully risky plan. What’s the point of having two stud receivers if you don’t pair them with a commensurately talented passer? As you can see, I am full of questions for now.”
Edholm summarizes the interesting state of the franchise pretty well here. Although they are consistently in playoff contention each year, the Steelers still find themselves in one of the more confusing spots of any team in the league.
If anything, this version of the Steelers shows how important the quarterback position really is. They have a stout defense and a young and promising offensive line. After trading for DK Metcalf, they now have one of the best receiving tandems in the NFL. By all accounts, they should be a top-10 team. Instead, the Steelers are coming in around the middle of the pack in various power rankings. The only real reason for that is that they simply don’t have a starting-caliber QB on the roster, and their path to finding one looks bleak.
It’s no surprise that it’s been the talk of the offseason so far. After making the massive trade for DK Metcalf, it seemed Pittsburgh was ready to show aggression in free agency. They have landed some solid depth players around the roster. At QB, though, they’ve been outmatched in their pursuit of both Justin Fields and Sam Darnold.
Now, Aaron Rodgers looks like the most realistic choice, but that’s far from a sure thing. At this point, there’s a reasonable chance the Steelers could go into the draft with only Mason Rudolph at the position. Maybe Pittsburgh will be comfortable with that. Or, they’ll find themselves handicapped during the draft, being forced to take a quarterback in an offseason in which they’ve got various positions needing depth.
Either way, it’s not a desirable situation. Edholm’s ranking of the Steelers 15th feels like a good encapsulation of the franchise. They have a lot of talent but no quarterback to truly push them into contention.
