Often times, the best NFL teams are the ones that can survive the inevitable injuries every team must endure. In many cases, the Pittsburgh Steelers have faltered down the stretch and in the playoffs just because injuries left them shorthanded. This got me thinking about the upcoming season and which positional units can least afford an injury.
Quarterback
This one goes without saying. There’s little hope the Steelers could salvage their season if Ben Roethlisberger sustained a significant injury. There’s plenty of promise with Josh Dobbs and Mason Rudolph but at this point, both guys are essentially untested. This team leaves so heavily on the pass losing Big Ben would be devastating.
Outside linebacker
It would be easy to say the Steelers cannot afford to lose T.J. Watt which is a given. But beyond him, if Pittsburgh loses Watt or Bud Dupree for any amount of time the pass rush would suffer. No one wants to see Anthony Chickillo out there for an extended streak and if this group isn’t getting sacks, the entire defense takes a huge hit.
Safety
Similar to some of the other positional units on the Steelers, the starting safeties for Pittsburgh are great but things really drop off after that. Terrell Edmunds and Sean Davis have a ton of talent but everyone behind them is completely untested. This is a position I could still see the Steelers pulling in a veteran late in the offseason for this very reason.
Tight end
Considering depth, if Vance McDonald gets hurt — and there’s a good chance he will be — the tight end position becomes a complete afterthought in the passing game. McDonald has a chance to really pick up the slack in the passing game so an injury there would force big changes to the offensive gameplan.
