The Pittsburgh Steelers 2024 season is here. And again I’m honoring the memory and work of my friend, the late, great Ivan Cole, by penning “The Case for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2024.”
Ivan wrote these columns annually while he was at BTSC and then Going Deep with the Steelers.
And I am happy to continue his tradition as I try to meld my own insights while striving to find Ivan’s tone and voice.
Mike Tomlin, Russell Wilson and George Pickens. Photo Credit: Reddit
A Mature, Self-Confident Franchise
So what is the “The Case for the Steelers in 2024” let’s use the words of Ivan himself to establish the ground rules:
Let me start with the disclaimer up front. If you’re looking for yet another set of predictions in what is the season of predictions you will be sorely disappointed here. I don’t do predictions, don’t believe in them. I’m sure someone will hit the nail on the head as to how the [2024] season will unfold, and there will be a certain element of skill involved in their assessment, but there will probably be a lot of luck involved as well.
What I attempt to bring to the table are some observations as to how to think about what factors might be key to a positive outcome for the Steelers this season. Specifically, what has to happen (and what has to not happen) in order for the team to, hopefully, make it to the playoffs and have a shot at the world championship.
No, these columns are intended to be predictive.
Case in point, one year ago this column cited the Steelers quarterback room as an area of strength. Yet after starting 3 separate quarterbacks in 2023, Mike Tomlin decided to completely remake the room in 2024.
- But that actually points to one of the biggest assets this team has going into the season.
How’s that you ask? Fair question.
Fair question. But if you look at the way the Steelers brain trust has handled the quarterback situation, it reveals the franchise’s maturity and self-confidence. Suffice to say, the Kenny Pickett of 2023 did not pick up right where the “Kenny F___ Picket” of 2022 left off.
Far from it. But Mike Tomlin stuck by his young signal caller. First, he tried forcing his offensive coordinator to change ways. When that failed, Tomlin shattered franchise precedent and fired Matt Canada midseason.
Kenny Pickett final play in Pittsburgh. Photo Credit: Chaz Palla, Tribune-Review
Tomlin then adopted a “fail fast” philosophy. When Kenny Pickett got injured on third down at the goal line against the Cardinals, Tomlin didn’t hesitate to go for it on 4th and goal. He did the same thing a week later against the Patriots. And, after giving Mitch Trubisky a full week to prepare and seeing him come woefully up short, Tomlin brought Pittsburgh’s Mitch Tribusky era to a shift end.
To a man, Art Rooney II, Mike Tomlin and Omar Khan kicked off the off season by expressing their faith in Kenny Pickett. Yet, Tomlin promised competition and Khan pledged to explore all available means to improve the team.
So when Russell Wilson became available for a song, the Steelers snatched him up immediately. And when Pickett balked at competing with and being mentored by a perennial Pro Bowler and Super Bowl Champion, they again embraced the fail-fast concept and shipped to the other end of Turnpike for clipboard holding duty.
- Franchise self-confidence was also evident in the hire of Arthur Smith.
One of the benefits of employing the same coach for 17 years is that it gives you a data set that is booth deep and wide to draw samples from. And one of the things that we can say about Mike Tomlin is that while he may excel at many things as a head coach, cultivating young coaching talent is not one of them.
- For his part, Mike Tomlin seems to realize that even if he has not said it in so many words.
Late last season we saw that, with competent quarterback play, the Steelers offense was capable of playoff-caliber football. But merely reaching the playoffs is not something that Mike Tomlin can or should take comfort in.
- Fortunately, he does not.
The quarterback who got him to the playoffs is gone, as just good enough isn’t sufficient. Tomlin applied the same mindset to his coaching staff. It would have been very easy to point to the late season improvement and promote either Eddie Faulkner or Mike Sullivan to as his next offensive coordinator.
Instead, Mike Tomlin acknowledged he needed to go outside the organization for the first time in 10 years to fill the offensive coordinator spot and hired Arthur Smith, who promises to bring brand of football Pittsburgh hasn’t seen since Ken Whisenhunt’s days.
And that’s a brand difference that could become relevant given the roster that’s been assembled.
The Unheralded Steelers 2024 Offense
The Steelers have a history of bringing quarterbacks to Pittsburgh, but none have ever boasted the track record of Russell Wilson. Wilson is of course a Super Bowl champion and 9 time Pro Bowler. And, while his skills may have diminished at age 35, he still possesses a beautiful deep ball.
But it is the intangibles that Wilson brings to the Steelers that should give us the greatest cause for excitement. Ever since the moment he touched down in Pittsburgh, Wilson has made every effort not only to connect with the team, but with the entire city. Watch an interview with him and, you’ll see the portrait of the man able to strike a healthy equilibrium between self confidence and humility.
In that respect, Wilson seems like the ideal mentor for his understudy, Justin Fields. During the preseason both saw why Chicago drafted him with the 11th overall pick and we saw why they decided to move on. But he’s certainly worth a 6th round pick and an excellent man to have as your number two. Furthermore, sub packages involving Fields could inject an X-Factor into this offense not seen since the heyday of Slash during the 1995 season.
Kyle Allen rounds out the group. Last year we saw why the Steelers believe in keeping 3 quarterbacks and once again everyone on their depth chart has starting NFL experience.
That brings us to running back. Let’s begin by asking that we please tune out the Najee Harris vs Jaylen Warren “controversy.” Attempts to present this as an either/or proposition represent a false dichotomy.
Could we see Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren paired in the same backfield? Photo Credit: Jordan Schofield via SteelerNation.com
Instead, the Harris/Warren tandem gives Pittsburgh their most potent 1-2 combo since the brief stretch in the 2004 season with both Duce Staley and Jerome Bettis enjoyed full health. And Cordarrelle Patterson gives the Steelers a nice RB number 3 option who offers excellent position flexibility.
At tight end the Steelers will field their deepest group arguably since the early 1990s. Pat Freiermuth looks poised to have a breakout year. Darnell Washington should help re-establish the offense’s smash-mouth mentality. Connor Heyward and MyCole Pruitt should give multiple options in the passing game, with Heyward able to do duty as a fullback when needed.
I would be remiss to say that, days before the season’s start, injuries to the offensive line make this an area of legitimate concern. In the last two year, slow starts by the Steelers offensive lines have nearly sabotaged both seasons. Given the back-loaded nature of this season’s schedule another slow start is something this team can ill afford.
If there is a silver lining it’s that the coaches are aware and can prepare. Yes, depth will be tested early, but at least the depth is there and it won’t be like getting a pop quiz on the day after summer vacation ends.
And finally, we come to the wide receivers, the one area of the depth chart that has generated as much angst among the fan base as all others combined. Debate and analysis of the strengths, or lack thereof, of the depth behind George Pickens is available in abundance elsewhere and need not be repeated here.
- Could the doomsday predictions of the naysayers come to pass?
Yes, they certainly could. But the reverse could be true. And if you’re scoffing, ask yourself, who was the only legitimate stand-out at wide receiver on the 2005 squad that won Super Bowl XL? Hines Ward. Antwaan Randle El was a good number 2, and there are several players on the 2024 squad who can plausibly reach his level albeit with different skill sets.
- Who were the number 3 and number 4 wide outs on the 2005 team?
You forgot, didn’t you? (It was Cedrick Wilson and Quincy Morgan — although I had to look them up.) And that’s in large part because of type of offense that the Steelers fielded under Ken Whisenhunt. An offense that is very similar to Arthur Smith. And Smith’s offense has the potential to be deeper at both tight end and running back than W’s was in 2005.
Does Defense Still Win Championships? We May Be About to Find Out
The “experts” assure as, as they have since at least 2011 or so, that defense is irrelevant in today’s pass happy, fantasy football fueled NFL.
The new conventional wisdom is that defenses don’t win championships franchise quarterbacks do.
- NFL fans are instructed to question this dictum only at your peril.
Never mind that a defensive score helped provide Kansas City with his margin of error in Super Bowl LVII with a defensive turnover, and that Chiefs sustained its rally by disrupting Jaylen Hurts by forcing him out of the pocket in a direction he did not want to go. Never mind that network commentators spent the Super Bowl LVIII gushing over Steve Spagnuolo’s defense.
As it relates to the Steelers, Steel City Insider’s Jim Wexell argues that this is the most talented defensive unit the franchise has fielded since 2010.
- And that’s and argument that holds up well under objective observation.
Paying homage to Franco, Cam Heyward leads Steelers out of tunnel. Photo Credit: Karl Roser, Steelers.com
The defensive line is led by Cam Heyward who is as much a pillar of the franchise as Franco Harris and Jerome Bettis were before him. Keeanu Benton logged a sensational rookie year, and looks ready to make the proverbial sophomore leap. Larry Ogunjobi appears to be fully healthy and if he can remain that way he should continue to be a disruptive force.
Behind them we have DeMarvin Leal, Isaiahh Loudermilk, Montravius Adams and Logan Lee giving us one of the deepest units in decades.
Looking over at the linebackers, one of the most exciting questions we can ask going into the season is “How will Teryl Austin find ways to get Nick Herbig on to the field?” No one is going to suggest he should be pushing T.J. Watt for time, but he’s given coaches every justification for setting up some sort of rotation and/or establishing a scheme that gets him, Watt and Alex Highsmith on the field at the same time.
At inside linebacker the Steelers have quantity, and they also look to have quality, with Patrick Queen and Elandon Roberts leading the way, while Mark Robinson, Tyler Matakevich and Payton Wilson provide depth that features both youth and experience.
- The secondary is another area of intrigue.
Last season Joey Porter Jr. showed everyone why he should have been a first round pick. Opposite him the Steelers will start Donte Jackson, with Beanie Bishop, Cory Trice, and Darius Rush rounding out the depth chart. A year ago the Steelers leaned into experience at cornerback, and ranked near the bottom of the league in yards per pass allowed.
- This year they’re leaning into youth in hopes of reversing their fortunes.
At safety Minkah Fitzpatrick leads the way with DeShon Elliott and Damontae Kazee alongside him. Last year the Steelers really wanted to deploy their three safety package, but injuries seldom allowed them to. Look for the 3 safety package to return.
As the off season began, if you listened beyond the conversation about Kenny Pickett, you’d hear griping about how the Steelers defense failed to deliver given the franchise’s salary cap investment in that side of the ball.
Such analysis belies the fact that starting in late October, the defense began losing either a starting inside linebacker and/or a safety to injury (or suspension) each week. Yet the unit continued to make splay play after splash play that either sealed victory or kept the team in games as the offensive struggled.
If this defense can even maintain an average level of health it should be very, very dangerous.
A Final Word about the AFC North
Thus far I have made the case for the 2024 Pittsburgh Steelers solely by looking at the mirror.
But of course the team does not exist in a vacuum, and instead in the AFC North, the division that sent 3 teams to the playoffs last year. The division that features Joe Burrow AND Lamar Jackson. The division that saw one of its teams go through 3 quarterbacks and still make the playoffs.
Yes, the Steelers play in this NFL’s toughest division. Yes, the Steelers will play the blunk of their division games in late in the year, on a ridiculously compacted schedule (don’t get me $tarted on the NFL’s hypocri$y when it comes to player $afety.)
- Does this make the prospect of bringing home Lombardi Number 7 all the more daunting?
You bet it does. But if Pittsburghers know anything, its that iron sharpens iron.
Let the games begin!
