The Steelers had a strong offseason, but are they Super Bowl contenders, capable of making a run in the AFC? Former Pro Bowl RB Maurice Jones-Drew thinks so. Discussing the team on the NFL Network’s pregame show Thursday night, he was high on the Steelers.
“I believe they’re a huge contender”, Jones-Drew said. He cited the significant talent acquisition they undertook this offseason, especially on defense. While they made meaningful investments on offense too, he believes it’s the other side of the ball that will separate them.
“If you’re playing the Baltimore Ravens, you’ve got to be able to do what? Stop the run. You have to stop the run. You’ve added that piece. If you’re playing the Cincinnati Bengals, guess what else you have to do? You’ve got to be able to slow down that offense—and then score points”, he said of the Steelers. “So you’ve added these pieces to go out and do those things”.
This offseason, the Steelers signed CBs Darius Slay and Brandin Echols in free agency, then traded for Jalen Ramsey. Although they traded Minkah Fitzpatrick, they added Juan Thornhill and Chuck Clark. Neither is Fitzpatrick, but then again, he hasn’t been Fitzpatrick the past two years, either. In the draft, they added DL Derrick Harmon and Yahya Black, as well as OLB Jack Sawyer. All three look to be contributors, with Harmon being a starter.
“To me, it’s the defense that’s gonna make the biggest jump”, Jones-Drew said of the Steelers’ improvement since last season, explaining why he believes that this year, they will be able to contend in the AFC. “If they can have a great defense, they have a chance”. He said if they can put up 21-24 points per game, they are in the hunt. He wanted major changes at the end of last season, and Pittsburgh certainly gave them to him.
The Steelers did not unveil most of their new acquisitions during preseason play, or at least not extensively. QB Aaron Rodgers and WR DK Metcalf did not play at all, for example. The new cornerbacks played sparingly last night, with Ramsey drawing an unnecessary roughness penalty.
Even some of the Steelers’ regular starters, like TE Pat Freiermuth and ILB Patrick Queen, played sparingly. And the truth is so much of this hinges on which Aaron Rodgers the Steelers are getting. Given that we haven’t seen him in a game setting, that makes things really tough to gauge.
On paper, it’s not too difficult to conceive of the idea that he will be better with the Steelers than he was with the Jets. But will he have them competing with Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Lamar Jackson? I think that’s a tough sell even for diehard Steelers fans.
