Other than James Harrison confirming that there was an injury payout system setup by Mike Tomlin the Steelers are in more trouble than I originally thought. In my last story I talked to fans around the AFC North about their biggest questions going into 2020. A fan followed up with me to talk about a deeper and darker concern that is plaguing the Steel City.
@bbak82 said that it isn’t just the QB position that is a major question mark and risk of the Steelers but the entire offense. James Conner is an injury plagued running back and has not played an entire 16 games in his three seasons in the league. In 2019 he missed 6 games alone and behind him is not much depth. I think they secretly miss Le’Veon Bell as the lover that got away. The Steelers have always been a ground and pound team that plays hard-nosed dirty defense. If Big Ben is going to survive an entire 16 games then he needs to rely on the run game heavily and that is just not reliable.
He also said that JuJu might be poo poo (ok my words) and not worthy of a WR1 spot. He also was not healthy last year and missed four games. JuJu only had 4 TDs and 552 yards receiving in those 12 games which is not impressive if you think about it. Sure he was missing Ben but balls are still thrown and plays are made. Behind JuJu it also isn’t pretty, James Washington is average and their Chase Claypool pick is still a head scratcher to me. So they can’t run and can’t pass, what else?
The offensive line is both aging and inexperienced. I don’t know if I agree with that assertion completely but they are certainly aging. How much gas does each of these aging stars have left? Stefen Wisniewski is 31 and should be still prime but he has always been more of a center than a LG. Matt Feiler, their RT, is the youngest guy at 27 years old and everyone else is in their 30’s. Their depth is young and inexperienced and if someone goes down (which always happens) it will be a major hole that can be exploited.
So basically the offense is in tatters and their fans think that it’s either going to be a 6-10 year or a 10-6 year and that will depend on health. Welcome to the NFL chumps. I do think that the Steelers are on the decline though and the stock is rising for everyone else in the AFC North. It will be nice to see them in the cellar for a change and some turmoil with Big Ben, Tomlin and their fan base will be well received in the Queen City.