Pittsburgh Steelers: 5 Mistakes to avoid in 2020 NFL Draft
By Samuel Teets
3. Spending too many picks on defense
Pittsburgh’s defense dominated in 2019. The Steelers led the NFL in sacks for the third-consecutive season with 54. The team’s 38 takeaways also led the NFL, topping New England’s 36. While the defense could use some tweaking, Pittsburgh should prioritize the offense in the 2020 NFL Draft.
The Steelers could lose two defensive starters in free agency. Both Bud Dupree‘s and Javon Hargrave‘s rookie contracts ran out after last season. Considering Dupree’s career-year in 2019, the Steelers cannot afford to keep the former first-round pick. The team could franchise tag Dupree, but that’s still a lot of money. Besides, that strategy backfired with Bell a few years ago.
While Hargrave played well, he’s more replaceable than Dupree, especially considering Cameron Heyward‘s dominance in the interior. Expect the team to promote internally or sign bargain free agents to fill these two defensive positions.
While Pittsburgh’s defense excelled in 2019, the offense looked horrible. A lot of that falls on the quarterback situation, which derailed the season in Week 2. Without Roethlisberger, the offense crumbled. However, the recent losses of Bell and Brown also showed.
Conner is a beloved Pittsburgh sports icon, but he played below par in 2019. Unless something changes drastically, I don’t think the Steelers have a starting-caliber running back on their roster. Conner performed exceptionally well in 2018, but that could be an outlier, not the norm.
Pittsburgh needs a tight end desperately and the team cannot push back addressing the aging interior offensive line. Even considering the team’s depth at wide receiver, Pittsburgh may go for another pass catcher this year considering the outstanding depth in the draft.