Pittsburgh Steelers: 3 Early breakout candidates for 2019 season

After missing the playoffs last year, the Pittsburgh Steelers have a new look heading into 2019 and this trio of players appears primed to break out.

It would be hard to script a more tumultuous season than what the Pittsburgh Steelers endured in the 2018 campaign. From Le’Veon Bell sitting out for the entire year amidst a contract dispute, to the locker room having chemistry issues with Antonio Brown and overall, to an inconsistent defense, to the team ultimately missing the postseason, Mike Tomlin’s club had their share of hardships to deal with.

As the Steelers eye the 2019 season, however, they have seemingly hit the reset button on all of that to try and turn things around. Pittsburgh let Bell finally walk in free agency. Moreover, the Steelers also traded away Brown to the Oakland Raiders. Additionally, the franchise also shipped right tackle Marcus Gilbert to the Arizona Cardinals.

On top of that, Pittsburgh made the lackluster defense from a year ago a clear focus of the 2019 NFL Draft. In the first round, the Steelers traded up to the 10th pick from No. 20 to take Devin Bush out of Michigan and also landed Michigan State cornerback Justin Layne in the third round, a great value pick to help a secondary that has struggled.

While you could certainly argue that Pittsburgh now has a less talented roster, the argument could also be made that the additions in terms of chemistry and balance will have them set up for more success in 2019. For an organization that measures itself by Lombardi Trophies, they certainly hope so.

If the Steelers are to bounce back and be a playoff team once again in 2019, though, they’ll need some players to rise to the occasion. These three guys should be circled as the early candidates to do just that.