Previous positions of strength now areas of concern for Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers may have dropped their second-straight loss in a 20-17 defeat by the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, but that isn’t the only thing the game cost them.
At the onset of training camp and the preseason, it was believed that the Steelers had several strong position groups on the team. Through five weeks of the regular season, those positions have seemingly weakened from those positions of strength, with the team now going deep on their bench to fill many of the holes left behind by potential starters and backups.
Here is a list of those position groups and how their units have devalued heading into Week 6’s matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders.
Offensive Line
Everyone and their brother knew that the Pittsburgh Steelers had to rebuild their offensive line over the last few seasons. That left them investing high draft picks and financial capital to find the optimal lineup. Yet, it was still a work in progress.
Draft selections were used in the first two rounds over the last two seasons to bring in a new left tackle (Broderick Jones), right tackle (Troy Fautanu), and center (Zach Frazier). A fourth-round pick was used this year for a reserve guard (Mason McCormick) and last season a seventh-round pick for guard/tackle Spencer Anderson.
Highly prized free agent signings highlighted the last few offseasons including guards Isaac Seumalo and James Daniels. As the season unfolded, Seumalo missed the first four weeks due to injury and Daniels was placed on injured reserve last week: ending his season. The injuries between Seumalo and Daniels forced McCormick (rookie) and Anderson (first-time starter, second-year pro) into duty.
Frazier planned on being eased into the lineup behind veteran center Nate Herbig, but the latter would also be placed on injured reserve in August, ending his season. Fautanu was hurt throughout training camp but returned in Week 2 against the Denver Broncos to start as the right tackle, supplanting Jones, who is intended to take over for Dan Moore Jr. as the team’s left tackle. Instead, Fautanu is also on IR with grim prospects of him returning before the end of the season.
Luckily, Seumalo has returned to provide some veteran stability to the offensive line which now has rookies Frazier and McCormick starting with Jones continuing to play out of position. The Steelers can ill afford anymore injuries as the depth is now playing full time and those behind the starters have even less experience, or potential, to adequately fill in.
Running Back
Najee Harris has been a polarizing figure in the Steelers backfield as he enters his fourth and final season. The front office declined a fifth-year option, allowing Harris to possibly become an unrestricted free agent next season. That had many believing Harris’ days in Pittsburgh were behind him. The hope was Jaylen Warren would supersede Harris eventually, as the duo continued to offer a 1-2 punch over the last two seasons.
A variety of injuries has prevented Warren from seeing substantial time on the field in 2024. Outside of a nine-carry day in Denver in Week 2, he had five carries combined in two of the other first three games before being inactive for the last two.
Veteran Cordarrelle Patterson was a pleasant surprise spelling both players in spot duty, but also succumbed to the injury bug following the Week 4 loss to Indianapolis.
Down two of their three players in the backfield rotation, Pittsburgh has now turned to the practice squad to give Harris a break and also to provide blitz pickups and additional blocking on passing downs. Aaron Shampklin and Jonathan Ward played on Sunday against the Cowboys, and combined for 25 yards on six carries. Neither were targeted in the passing game.
The Steelers desperately need Warren or Patterson back ASAP before they overload Harris in Arthur Smith‘s run oriented offense. With the threat of a strong rushing attack, the Steelers are unable to effectively sell RPO and play action calls, reducing the wrinkles they have for offensive success.
Outside Linebacker
The Steelers edge rushers are important far beyond T.J. Watt. One of the ways Watt is able to succeed at such a high level has been because of his counterparts on defense, Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig.
Highsmith was rewarded with a new contract extension during the 2023 offseason after a 14.5 sack 2022 season. He had seven sacks in 2023 and is consistently one of the top pass rushers in the league with 80 pressures over his last 50 games.
Unfortunately, Highsmith too has been lost to injury, which appeared to be no big deal as the young Herbig jumped right in and accumulated two sacks right away against the Chargers. He had another half-sack against the Cowboys, but pulled up limping after pursuing Dallas QB Dak Prescott in Sunday’s game and did not return.
Adding insult to injury (pun intended) the Steelers also lost another fill in at the position, DeMarvin Leal, who plays both defensive end and outside linebacker as asked in the Steelers 3-4 schemes. This left the team down to Jeremiah Moon on Sunday. Moon, who just came off of injured reserve, ended up playing 37% of the entire game due to the three injuries ahead of him on the depth chart. He also had to pitch in on special teams for nine plays as there was no one left to hand those duties to.
We’ve seen the same old story in the past in Pittsburgh, where edge rushers such as LaMarr Woodley, Bud Dupree, and even T.J. Watt get injured and tend to leave the rest of the pass rush stranded. James Harrison, the previous Steelers franchise sacks leader, was left out to dry when Woodley couldn’t stay healthy and likewise Watt when Dupree went down. It’s well known what the Steelers defense looks like when Watt is lost for extended time: and it isn’t good.
The Steelers will need some healthy reserves to keep Watt fresh and not overexerting himself. Hopefully at least Highsmith or Herbig won’t be out for too long and can jump back into where they left off.
