When the 2019 season gets going there are going to be lots of new faces in new places on the Pittsburgh Steelers. Coming off of a 9-6-1 season and no playoffs, the pressure is on many of the young players who haven’t delivered to this point to step up and produce. Here the three guys we feel like are poised for a big jump in production in 2019.
Marcus Allen | Safety
When the Steelers drafted former Penn State star Marcus Allen, fans were excited. Allen was a big-hitting safety in college and looked like he could bring some physicality to the back end of the defense. But depth and nagging injuries kept Allen out of relevance for the entire season. But with the likelihood of Morgan Burnett on the way out, Allen should have a chance to crack the 53-man roster again and get a big bump in defensive reps.
Eli Rogers | Wide receiver
Pittsburgh’s passing offense is going through some changes this offseason and Ben Roethlisberger is going to be looking for guys he can count on in the passing game. Aside from JuJu Smith-Schuster, the guy with the most experience and production is Eli Rogers. A knee injury at the end of the 2017 season cost Rogers all but the final three games of the 2018 season. With Rogers back to 100 percent we are banking on him being a top target for Roethlisberger in the slot.
Cam Sutton | Cornerback
Every cornerback on the roster not named Joe Haden is going to have a chance to earn some extra playing time in 2019 and will be battling for reps. The Steelers drafted Cam Sutton in the third round in 2017 in hopes his experience in press coverage would benefit him in the NFL. We saw some flashes last season and are hoping he can get more consistent in his coverage and work harder on creating turnovers.
