There’s simply no way the Steelers earn a 9-7-1 record during 2021 without the help of their stars. If you remove T.J. Watt alone from the equation, the results yielded could have been much worse. Advanced statistics show that Pittsburgh simply wasn’t very good on either side of the ball last year, but stars have the ability to control the game at times.
Every year before the start of the season, I like to take a stab at predicting who the best players will be for the Pittsburgh Steelers. For these rankings, I don’t factor in positional value; rather, I rank them with respect to how good they are at their positions.
For the purposes of making things interesting, I didn’t include special teams players, so Chris Boswell isn’t on the list. I would also like to name Pat Freiermuth and Myles Jack as my honorable mentions who just missed the top five this year. Here are my Steelers rankings for the upcoming season:
Najee Harris isn’t yet the star running back that fans want him to be. However, he’s better than his efficiency stats would indicate. While I still don’t stand behind Pittsburgh’s decision to spend valuable first-round draft capital on running backs, it’s clear that Harris is talented.
Sadly, it has yet to equate to efficiency on the field, and he ranked just 35th in DVOA among running backs in 2021, according to Football Outsiders. Still, I think Najee will take that second-year leap and prove to be one of the better running backs in the league. He just needs to get a little more help from his offensive line.
For some reason or another, many fans have a love-hate relationship with Diontae Johnson. What more could you ask for in a former third-round pick? Though Johnson has been inconsistent with drop issues in the past, his drop rate was lower than starts like Cooper Kupp, Justin Jefferson, and Tyreek Hill last season.
