With Aaron Rodgers, the Pittsburgh Steelers have their best quarterback situation since before Ben Roethlisberger’s injury in 2019. It’s far from perfect, but that counts for something, and the team has still remained competitive up until the playoffs almost every season. One of the best quarterbacks of all time has to be worth a playoff win to the Steelers even at his advanced age, right?
FOX Sports’ Ben Arthur put all of the AFC teams into tiers. He didn’t quite take the massive leap to put the Steelers in the “Super Bowl Contenders” category, but they are just a tier below that.
“The Steelers have made the playoffs in back-to-back years. Both seasons ended in wild-card exits,” Arthur wrote. “Their starting quarterbacks during that time have been Mason Rudolph, Kenny Pickett, Mitchell Trubisky, Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. That’s why, if everything goes according to plan in Pittsburgh, Rodgers should be able to get the franchise at least one postseason victory.”
Giving him autonomy at the line of scrimmage, which wasn’t afforded to Russell Wilson for very long, should be a boost on its own. If Rodgers can react to the looks that the defense gives and adjust accordingly to set the offense up for success, that’s already better than what the Steelers have had since Roethlisberger.
Quarterbacks are important, but football isn’t a one-man sport. Rodgers’ arrival also coincides with plenty of other reasons for optimism on the team.
On his side of the ball, the offensive line has an additional year of experience and cohesion with plenty of high draft picks in recent years. As dependable as Najee Harris was, rookie RB Kaleb Johnson should provide an upgrade within Arthur Smith’s wide-zone scheme and Jaylen Warren hopefully won’t be dealing with injuries like he was last season. TE Darnell Washington seems ready to become a legitimate receiving threat after his impressive display at OTAs and Rodgers might help unlock the chronically underused Pat Freiermuth.
The argument can be made that they are in the same position as last year at wide receiver, but Roman Wilson could be an X factor and the Steelers are seemingly not done adding to that room.
On defense, Patrick Queen has another year of experience with the green communication dot and the Steelers’ defensive system. Communication should be improved, and his own play should improve as the green dot responsibilities come easier to him. The secondary is improved with the likes of Darius Slay and Juan Thornhill over Donte Jackson and Damontae Kazee. Beanie Bishop Jr. has more experience and additional competition in the slot.
Most importantly, the defensive line has more depth and more talent with first-round DT Derrick Harmon entering the mix. And there shouldn’t be any signs of slowing down yet from T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith.
Not only is this the best quarterback the Steelers have had since 2018, this might also be their best overall roster. One playoff win isn’t an unattainable goal, and the Steelers should be right there in the conversation as at least a threat to the upper-echelon teams in the conference.
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