This is the Gridiron Review’s grading and breakdown series of every team’s offseason. This article is the offseason in review of the Pittsburgh Steelers

Players Retained:

Offense: Chukwuma Okorafor, OL

Defense: Montravius Adams, DL; Marcus Allen, LB; Ahkello Witherspoon, CB; Terrell Edmunds, S; Miles Killebrew, S; Karl Joseph, S

Key Losses:

Offense: Ben Roethlisberger, QB; Joshua Dobbs, QB; Kalen Ballage, RB; Juju Smith-Schuster, WR; James Washington, WR; Ray-Ray McCloud WR/KR; Eric Ebron, TE; Trai Turner, OL; Zach Banner, OL; B.J. Finney, OL

Defense: Joe Schobert, LB; Joe Haden, CB

Key Free Agent Pick-ups:

Offense: Mitch Trubisky, QB; Gunner Olszewski, WR/KR; Miles Boykin, WR; Mason Cole, OL; James Daniels, OL

Defense: Myles Jack, LB; Genard Avery, LB; Levi Wallace, CB; Damontae Kazee, S

Trades(If Applicable):

None

Draft Class:

• Round 1, Pick No. 20: Kenny Pickett, QB, Pitt
• Round 2, Pick No. 52: George Pickens, WR, Georgia
• Round 3, Pick No. 84: DeMarvin Leal, DT, Texas A&M
• Round 4, Pick No. 138: Calvin Austin III, WR, Memphis
• Round 6, Pick No. 208: Connor Heyward, TE, Michigan State
• Round 7, Pick No. 225: Mark Robinson, LB, Ole Miss
• Round 7, Pick No. 241: Chris Oladokun, QB, South Dakota State

Our Offseason Grade: Good moves, but are the issues fixed?

Record Prediction(Division Rank): 4-13(4th)

Summary:

Offensively, the Steelers are staying intact for the most part. The running back and tight end rooms are not changing with the exception of the addition of Connor Heyward from Michigan State in the draft. It sounds like Heyward will be played at FB, H-Back, and TE. The major changes start in the quarterback room where we will no longer see Big Ben; however, at this point in his career it’s probably for the best. They added Mitch Trubisky from the Buffalo Bills and Kenny Pickett from Pitt in the draft. They also added Chris Oladokun from South Dakota State in the draft, who I liked as a small school prospect. In the receiver room they lose Juju, Washington, and primary returner Ray-Ray McCloud. They are pretty big losses, but we love what they did to the receiver room in the offseason. They added Miles Boykin from the Baltimore Ravens, Gunner Olszewski from the New England Patriots, George Pickens from Georgia and Calvin Austin III from Memphis in the draft. Boykin is still unproven, but we think that he could find himself in some kind of role here in Pittsburgh. We like  the thought of Claypool and Pickens at receiver for the Steelers. Austin probably needs a year before he takes on a big role in this offense, but Olszewski should be a nice slot option and returner replacement for McCloud. The thing to keep an eye on in this receiver room is what’s going to happen with Diontae Johnson. It sounds like he is holding out for a contract extension. In our opinion, Johnson has absolutely no leverage here. He has the potential to be one of the best slot receivers in the league, but has struggled with drops throughout his career. He started hot last year and fell apart down the stretch. It feels like the Austin pick may be a warning to Johnson as well as a potential replacement should Pittsburgh feel like resigning him is not worth it. The good thing for the Steelers is that they acknowledged the offensive line was not great last year. The line will be without Trai Turner who went to Washington, but they brought in Mason Cole and James Daniels who should be big upgrades on who they had. The other three spots on the line are most likely going to be open competition. Banner and Finney are both still free agents, but if they reunite with either guy it will most likely be for depth and not to start.

Defensively, their main two losses were Joe Haden and Joe Schobert. It seemed like Pittsburgh made it a priority to re-sign their own guys because they brought back most of their defensive pieces from last year. They also added Myles Jack (who is probably an upgrade on Schobert), Genard Avery from Philly, and Mark Robinson from Ole Miss in the draft. The Steelers also declined the 5th year option of Devin Bush, which means it could be all or nothing for him this season. In the secondary, they signed Levi Wallace from Buffalo who is probably near the level of play of Haden(maybe a slight downgrade) and Damontae Kazee from Dallas as a backup safety. The Steelers are now pretty deep at safety, but as for the corners, not so much. If I were Pittsburgh I would be considering a reunion with Haden, even if it’s just for the veteran leadership. On the line, the big question is still whether or not Tuitt will be making a return this season. The issue for us is that the Steelers were already one of the worst rushing defenses last year and they didn’t really address the defensive line. If you lose Tuitt, I don’t know what they plan on doing to stop the run, unless they thought the linebackers were the issue and that’s why they added so many backers, but who knows. The Steelers did draft DeMarvin Leal from Texas A&M to add to the defensive line, but he is an undersized tackle, similar to what you already have in Wormley, who is going to bring more to the pass rush than he is to the run game.

Overall, we like what they did on the offensive side more than the defensive side. The offense has a chance to take a step forward now with QBs who can throw the ball more than 10 yards down the field, but Trubisky has not proved Nagy was the issue yet as he was a backup last year, and we think Pickett will translate nicely to the league, but his upside definitely has questions. Addressing the offensive line was huge though, and it should help whoever starts at QB and Najee. Claypool needs to focus up and take a step forward on the field this year. Pickens is either going to be an OROY candidate or suspended in week one. Johnson needs to show up and prove he made improvements this offseason. We suspect the defense will take a step back this season, maybe not a huge step back, but we think there will be regression. We think bringing in Brian Flores could be the best move they’ve made on that side of the ball. The problem is we do not feel as though much was done to improve on their run defense that was one of the worst last season. Is Myles Jack that much of an improvement? Will they regret taking Leal over some of the run stuffers that were still available at that point in the draft? We have the Steelers going 4-13 because neither QB is proven and the defense has no improvements that suggest they will be better (unless Flores makes that much of a difference). Certainly their record could be better, but the Steelers have been falsely good the last few years, and we feel like their roster is the worst in their division.