The Steelers 2024 season hinges on these four players
As the 2024 NFL regular season approaches there’s excitement in the air. Predictions are everywhere and the Pittsburgh Steelers aren’t immune to rumors and speculation about how their season will turn out.
Many of those predictions are about which players will achieve individual accolades, how many games the Steelers will win, or even if head coach Mike Tomlin can snap out of his playoff losing streak.
However, what about the few names that the Steelers’ upcoming season truly depends on? There are several players – four by my calculation – that Pittsburgh must have play to their top potential for the franchise to have a successful season. Here’s the short list of those players and why they are so important.
Russell Wilson
The Steelers’ new quarterback needs to have a big season to make us forget about the other quarterbacks who have played since the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger.
Wilson is out for redemption after two lackluster seasons with the Denver Broncos that devalued his stock and left the 35-year-old veteran on the backend of his career potentially starting down his last chance at being an NFL starting quarterback. The odds are stacked against him, but many are willing to bet that the former Super Bowl champion still has some gas left in the tank. For those interested in such a wager, they may register at betting sites not on gamstop as Wilson approaches his first start in a black and gold jersey in Week 1 against the Atlanta Falcons.
There’s optimism to believe Wilson will turn things around. He threw for over 3,000 yards in 15 games with the Broncos last season, completing a high rate of his attempts (66.4%). His 26 touchdown passes were more than all Steelers quarterbacks threw for combined over the last two seasons. (25 touchdowns total in 34 games.)
Wilson’s eight interceptions in 2023 were also fewer than Kenny Pickett and Mitchell Trubisky’s combined over each of the last two seasons. (Nine interceptions in 2023 and 14 in 2022.)
So long as Wilson is capable of continuing to protect the football and move the chains, the Steelers offense should improve immensely in 2024. However, if Wilson is unable to to break the team’s recent streak of bottom-five offensive performances, they will struggle to meet their expectations of winning their first playoff game since 2016.
Troy Fautanu
Fautanu is an important key to the Steelers success as the team retools their offensive line in 2024. Injured in training camp and unable to participate in preseason games thus far, the team has had to lean on starting Dan Moore Jr. at left tackle, which has prohibited Mike Tomlin’s staff from sliding 2023 first round draft pick Broderick Jones over to his natural side.
Instead, Jones is playing the right tackle position while Fautanu rehabs: and not always with the best of results.
The sooner that Fautanu can get healthy and jump into the lineup playing right tackle, the better. This will allow Jones to move over to the left tackle position, with both former first round picks seemingly upgrades to their predecessors, completing a years-long rebuild of the offensive line.
Patrick Queen
Inside linebacker has been a bugaboo for the Steelers ever since Ryan Shazier’s career-ending injury during the 2017 season. From that point, the team has signed or drafted a number of linebackers who have not been able to fill the role, until perhaps now with the addition of Patrick Queen during the offseason.
The former 2020 first-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens jumps within the division to the rival Steelers with a moxie that has already made a top level defense more dangerous. Queen exploded in 2023 to career-highs with 133 combined tackles (84 solo, 49 assisted – both career-highs also) along with 3.5 sacks and nine tackles-for-loss.
The campaign earned him his first Pro Bowl honors, but his critics will mention former teammate Roquan Smith as being a component for Queen’s success. The Steelers are well-equipped with their own linebackers to pair up with Queen, such as Elandon Roberts and rookie Payton Wilson. However, it’s crucial that Queen – who has never missed a game in his NFL career – continues on his upward trajectory while remaining healthy.
Pittsburgh cannot afford to lose another play caller on defense and are desperate in making sure Queen succeeds as the inside linebacker with sideline-to-sideline speed that they covet in their various defensive schemes.
T.J. Watt
It’s well documented how the Steelers perform with and without Watt. With Watt, the team has a 69-33-2 record all-time. They are 1-10 without him.
The only player in NFL history to lead the league in sacks three individual seasons, Watt’s name is synonymous with “game changer”. An elite player who is always in contention for the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award, Watt is the heartbeat of the Steelers defense and impossible to replace.
It goes without saying, he could be the most important player on the Steelers roster and as such, the key to their success this upcoming season.
