The Pittsburgh Steelers are super young on the offensive side of the ball. Looking around at the entire unit you won't find anyone with a ton of experience, but you will find some players that have a pedigree. On the offensive line new guard James Daniels comes to Pittsburgh with 48 starts, and in the backfield Najee Harris is a budding super star in the making.
Pittsburgh Steelers Running Back Najee Harris(22) participates in Organized Team Activities (OTAs) Tuesday May 24, 2022 at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. (Karl Roser/Pittsburgh Steelers)
But the nay-sayers continue to come at the Steelers from every angle when it comes to their young offense. This time it's former General Manager Mike Tannenbaum in his latest story on The 33rd Team. Tannenbaum ranked offensive playmakers in tiers sort of like what Pro Football Focus did a few weeks ago for their quarterback projections.
Tannebaum placed the Steelers in 'Tier 5' which also hosts the Jacksonville Jaguars, and New York Jets (his former team). You can look at this a couple of different ways. The Jets, and Jaguars have been selecting in the top of the first round for a few years now. They have several big name young offensive rookies who have yet to develop. The Steelers continue to draft near the end of the first round even though they've been in a bit of a rebuild for the past couple of years.
This is how he described tier 5:
"Tier 5 consists of the teams lacking true star talent at multiple position groups. Mostly, these players are effective at their given job, but are lackluster in multiple categories of star power, depth, consistency, health, and distributed talent. These teams have a multitude of young talent that could rise in the ranks, but it has not been seen yet."Pittsburgh Steelers:
Najee Harris, Benny Snell Jr, Diontae Johnson, Chase Claypool, George Pickens, Pat Freiermuth, Zach Gentry
There isn't a lot of explanation from Tannebaum, but what he is describing for the Steelers is somewhat true, but not entirely. Harris was a stud as a rookie and will become a star in 2022. He's already bigger, faster, and stronger from 2021 and it's shown thus far in OTA's. Diontae Johnson was voted a Pro Bowl alternate after hauling in 107 receptions for 1161 yards and 8 touchdowns. The stats weren't mind blowing, but he was also working in an offense that operated on 5 yard passes. He's had shaky hands throughout his career, but has continued to make strides in regards to dropped passes.
Chase Claypool has all of the tools. He just needs to get his mental game to catch up with his physical game. But he certainly fits Tannebaum's description when it comes to consistency. George Pickens is an unknown because he's a rookie. Pat Freiermuth has the potential to turn into a machine at tight end. He has all the tools to become one of the games top tight ends.
Maybe Tannebaum is right..for now. But after 2022 he may be singing a different tune when it comes to star power.
