Steelers Offseason Recap - Defense

 We're going to sidestep most of the panic in Jays land today and continue the Steelers roster overview I've been doing. I'd be silly if I didn't address it a little bit though. Jeff Hoffman has had a rough month or so here and it's definitely cause for concern heading into the playoffs with no clear option to replace him as closer. Giving up 4 runs in the 9th inning against the bottom of the Twins order is pretty pitiful, and a heartbreaking way to lose. I mean he gave up the tying run on the first major league home run of Mickey Gasper's career, a guy hitting .154 this season. Brutal, we have no choice but to let him figure it out I guess. Anyway, the Steelers defense looks banging, lets summarize it here: 

Defensive Line

Depth Chart: Cameron Heyward, Keeanu Benton, Derrick Harmon, Isaiahh Loudermilk, Yahya Black, Logan Lee, Daniel Ekuale, Esezi Otomewo

This was actually a sneaky weakness of the Steelers last season, and they spent a decent amount of resources to address it. First things first, Cam Heyward, a long time star on the Steelers D line has been in a bit of a contract dispute with the team this preseason. He returned to practice and it looks like he'll likely play, but it's still up in the air, which is concerning. The Steelers also used their first round pick on promising rookie Derrick Harmon. Harmon has looked awesome in the preseason, but he exited a game on a stretcher in the last preseason game causing the fan base to panic. Luckily it looks like he's only slated to miss a couple of weeks and should be back as a big boost to this unit. They used a 5th round pick on Yahya Black and in the preseason he's looked much better than a 5th round pick for sure. They're bringing back Keeanu Benton who's a solid player especially in stopping the run to round out a bit of a new look D-line. 

Ultimately this D-line still has a lot of question marks. If the rookies can come in and make an impact it'll really help the Steelers in stopping the run, a bit of a weakness in the last few seasons. If the rookies come in and suffer growing pains then a lot will be on the shoulders of a disgruntled 35 year old Cam Heyward which could be an issue as the season goes on. I do like that the Steelers spent real resources to get some young talent in the door on the d-line though, this should only bode well for the future. With the next group of guys I'll talk about being elite, the D-line only needs to hold its own to maintain a great defense. 

Linebackers

Depth Chart: 

OLB: TJ Watt, Alex Highsmith, Nick Herbig, Jack Sawyer 

MLB: Patrick Queen, Payton Wilson, Malik Harrison, Cole Holcomb

I admittedly don't have a handle on every other team's linebacker group, but in my biased opinion this is the best set of linebackers in the NFL this season. TJ Watt needs no introduction. The Steelers signed him to a 3 year $123m contract this off season and for good reason. The Steelers are 1-10 all time when TJ misses games and 79-40-2 when he plays. He's one of if not the most impactful defensive player in the NFL and I fully expect him to be on the sacks leaderboard when the season ends. Alex Highsmith would be most team's star linebacker and he's a second fiddle in this group to TJ. Highsmith is an awesome pass rusher and great in the running game, a star in his own right. Nick Herbig is one of my favorite players on the team and is seriously as good in the pass rush as TJ Watt. He has his issues in the running and coverage games but in his limited snaps he's definitely going to make an impact. They spent a 3rd round pick this year on Jack Sawyer to round out the OLB group, a guy I know little about but with their track record drafting linebackers I'm sure he'll be a star too. The interior linebackers are every bit as good as the group on the outside. Patrick Queen was the big acquisition last year, he adds an element of speed to the run stop game and has shown to be a solid defensive QB. Payton Wilson had a tremendous rookie season last year that really opened eyes. I wouldn't be surprised if he becomes the superior linebacker to Queen this season, but is also a great compliment playing beside him. The other guys I don't know as well but just the depth in the dudes I mentioned alone is top tier elite. 

Not much more to say! The Steelers didn't spend a whole ton of resources here this offseason besidees Sawyer and resigning TJ, but they didn't need to. I expect this group to be the heart and soul of the Steelers defense just like it has been for every great Steelers defense I've ever seen. 

Cornerbacks

Depth Chart: Joey Porter Jr., Darius Slay, Jalen Ramsey, Cory Trice Jr., Brandin Echols

Sad Beanie Bishop noises. Yeah I'm starting this section off talking about a guy not on the team. The Steelers are so deep at CB that they ended up cutting Beanie Bishop, a guy I was pretty excited about. I think he'll get snapped up pretty quickly and be a positive player somewhere. Anyway, the Steelers were busy bolstering this group this offseason. Darius Slay is a signing I always forget they made. At 34 his best seasons are behind him, but he's coming off a Superbowl and is rock solid as a CB2 at this stage. Jalen Ramsey was the big return for Minkah Fitzpatrick, another big name who's slightly over the hill at this point but on this defense he's mostly going to be playing the slot, which is pretty crazy. Joey Porter Jr. is now entering year 3 and in his first 2 seasons has looked every bit the part of a lockdown corner on the outside. Rounding out the depth is Cory Trice, who looked particularly impressive as a 7th round rookie last season, and Brandin Echols, a guy who's been a decent depth piece for the Jets the last 3 seasons. 

This group is as good as it gets in my opinion. Yeah there's some age concerns with Slay and Ramsey, but if Trice or Echols need to step in at any point I wouldn't be uncomfortable watching it. The overall success of this group is going to hinge on Joey Porter Jr. continuing his star ascension. He's got the speed and the length, he just sometimes gets himself into penalty issues which is definitely something he can clean up. This is a group that was Joey Porter Jr. and a bunch of scraps last year, it's now significantly improved. With the linebackers creating one of the best pass rushes in the league and a pretty dominant group of corners, the Steelers figure to have a pretty awesome pass defense this year. 

Safety 

Depth Chart: Juan Thornhill, DeShon Elliot, Miles Killebrew 

The definite weakest part of the Steelers defense is safety. The big move here was trading Minkah Fitzpatrick in a surprise move. I have seen a lot of videos since that pointed out his speed had really gone downhill which opened the Steelers up to big plays last season, I can see that, but he was still the definite most talented player in this group. New addition Jalen Ramsey might actually see some snaps at safety this season, especially considering the Steelers are only rostering 3 guys at the position coming out of camp. Still though with who they have, it's not extremely dire. Juan Thornhill has been an average starter for the Chiefs and then Browns in his 6 year career. DeShon Elliot is another guy who's been a decent starter with the Ravens, Lions and Dolphins. He was the Steelers backup last season but played a decent amount of snaps and was solid when he did play. Killebrew is mostly a special teams player, where he is admittedly awesome making back to back pro bowls, but he'll be seeing snaps at safety for sure this season and we'll see how he holds up. He's a 9 year veteran and should be OK in a pinch. 

Overall, this position has no stand out stars, but these guys don't absolutely suck. I don't expect to see any of these guys as big difference makers this season but I doubt they kill the defense, especially with the linebackers and cornerbacks being some of the best units in football. You can't be elite at every position and this season the Steelers decided they can be a bit lighter at safety. 

That's that! This series is really just for me if I'm being honest, I have a lot of fun doing it. The Steelers defense has a chance to be the best in the league, and it should be up there considering it's the highest paid defensive unit in football. Lets be real too, TJ Watt is an above average defense all by himself, the fact that they have so many other playmakers is just gravy. Go Steelers!