At this point, the Pittsburgh Steelers are a team at a crossroads. One one hand you never want to see a team give up on the season. Pittsburgh sits at 0-3 and their dwindling odds of making the playoffs is the reality. But on the other hand, you have to wonder what the motivation is for a team with nothing to play for but pride. This week the Steelers square off with the Cincinnati Bengals and there are lots of guys with plenty to prove this week and every week going forward.
Here are the four guys we want to see step up this week.
QB Mason Rudolph
We can give Rudolph something of a pass for his performance last week. But with another week of practice we want to see him play much better. This team has plenty of weapons and as we see more and more young quarterbacks play well this season, it’s a head-scratcher as to where Rudolph and the offense are struggling so much.
TE Zach Gentry
Pittsburgh made very little effort to bolster the tight end position. Prior to the trade for Nick Vannett the only legitimate move the Steelers made was to draft Zach Gentry. This week Gentry has a golden opportunity this week to show the fanbase he was not a wasted pick.
LB Mark Barron
The Steelers signed Barron as a free agent and despite the addition of Devin Bush has been penciled in as a starter at inside linebacker. But three games in you can see the reason Barron was available and is on his third team. Barron has a chance to show everyone why he was a first-round pick back in the day but he must play smarter football.
S Terrell Edmunds
Edmunds needs to be very aware that the Steelers now have another safety on the roster who is more talented in Minkah Fitzpatrick. With the rest of the guys in this secondary, Edmunds has every opportunity to break out this season as plays funnel his way. Edmunds finished the year strong but hasn’t gotten back to that level yet.
