As the NFL Draft inches closer and closer there is a lot of chatter about the Steelers and their defensive needs. Nearly every mock draft has Pittsburgh taking a cornerback, safety or linebacker with their top picks. However, there are some who think the Steelers could add more weapons to the offense. Others even think the team will draft a quarterback in the first round! (I’m shaking my head at the thought!)

With the offhanded remark Ben made about “contemplating returning this season” the thought of his eventual retirement is still making the rounds. Maybe the Steelers will use a late round pick on a quarterback?

Aside from a quarterback who may not see much playing time, are there other offensive needs for the Steelers?

NFL Network’s Aditi Kinkhabwala tweeted an observation she recently had with Roethlisberger:

Pass rushers, DBs are the obvious needs. But I can tell you this: Ben Roethlisberger is lobbying hard for more offensive targets #Steelers https://t.co/PEY4O5U3fm

— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) April 6, 2017

Ben Roethlisberger is lobbying hard for more offensive targets?

What? How many offensive targets does one quarterback need? What does he have now?

Let’s look.

Ben currently has the best wide receiver and the best running back in the game today. Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell, along with Ben Roethlisberger, complete the “Killer B’s”.

Well almost. If Martavis Bryant ever gets reinstated then Ben will have another “B” to throw to!

Then there’s the long list of wide receivers who played in 2016: Sammie Coates, Darrius Heyward-Bey, Eli Rogers, Demarcus Ayers, and Cobi Hamilton. Add to that the newly signed six-foot-four Justin Hunter, and the cupboard doesn’t look so bare.

The rest of his potential pass catchers are tight ends Ladarius Green, Jesse James, Xavier Grimble and David Johnson, as well as running backs Fitzgerald Toussaint and free agent pickup Knile Davis.

Counting Bryant, that’s 15 “weapons” at Ben’s disposal. Of course, Toussaint and Johnson aren’t thrown to much, if at all, but you see the picture I’m painting. What other quarterback in the league has that kind of depth chart to work with?

So is Ben getting greedy? Or, after the loss in the AFC Championship, is he thinking about how that big stage was just a little too big for them to get past the Patriots?

Either way, Ben needs to seriously look at the weapons he has, be the leader he has become and continue to cultivate those players to have the impact AB or Bell has had. If you look at the body of work for Antonio Brown, without Ben under center, what is his impact? (I left Bell out of that because he is just a different type of player that has made his own success.)

Consider too how Ben challenged Martavis Bryant near the end of the 2015 regular season. We’ve all witnessed the growth of players like Eli Rogers and Jesse James too. There’s much to be said about the “second receiver” argument, but the Steelers were probably expecting Bryant and Ladarius Green to play more than they did in 2016.

While the Steelers always seem to draft a wide receiver, and they could definitely use more running back depth, Ben has had more than his fair share of weapons to make a run at a Super Bowl. One more piece could put the offense over the top, but as we’ve been promised each training camp, the goal of scoring 30 or 40 points per game hasn’t been fulfilled.

So let’s not get greedy here. When you look at the big picture, the Steelers need a stronger defense so the offense doesn’t have to put up 30-plus. That should be the focus.

The Steelers have one of the best, if not the best offenses in the league. It’s up to Ben and the coaches to bring out the best in the players they have now, as well as up to the players themselves to rise to the challenge.

If they do, they can get over the hump and make it back to the Super Bowl.