Let’s be honest, the Pittsburgh Steelers offense was a mess last season. It was the worst iteration of a Steelers offense in two decades setting several marks for futility in franchise history. Much of the struggles could be attributed to injuries from Ben Roethlisberger to James Conner and JuJu Smith-Schuster.
Why all this setup? Because the reality is a case could be made to shuffle all five of these positions and you’d get little argument. The units as a whole were dreadful and none of them stood out for much of anything positive.
5-Quarterback
The minute Roethsliebrger was lost for the year, so was the season. Yes, the Steelers put up a good fight but all you have to do is watch the elite quarterback play in the playoffs and understand this team had no business being a part of that group. The offense failed to score 30 points last season and failed to produce a 300-yard passer.
4-Tight ends
If you weren’t paying attention, you might not have realized the Steelers have tight ends on their roster. But while this group sits at No. 4, it’s as much to do with how little offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner used them as a lack of talent. Vance McDonald can be an effective receiver but never found a place in the offense.
3-Running backs
Despite having Conner, Benny Snell Jr. and Jaylen Samuels, no Steelers running back rushed for 500 yards in 2019. All three backs missed multiple games with injuries the worst of it being Conner who missed six games. There is too much talent on this unit to have underperformed to a point they were the worst rushing team in the league.
2-Wide receivers
I’m sure many of you won’t appreciate putting the wide receivers this high in the ranking. But the reality is, injuries and terrible quarterback play were the biggest contributing factors to how much the wide receivers struggled last season. We saw Diontae Johnson and James Washington emerge when giving the opportunity and the future looks very bright with this group going forward.
1-Offensive line
The Steelers offensive line was very much feast or famine. As a unit their run blocking was terrible. It didn’t matter who the running back was, it was clear the offensive line didn’t play with the same type of energy and effort they have in the past. But the Steelers pass protection was still elite. Which is a huge accomplishment when you consider the revolving door at the quarterback position.
