The Steelers offseason has been one of the more active offseasons they have in recent memory as Omar Khan has shaped the roster to his liking. With so much change and turnover, the team will look drastically different, but that does not signal a bad thing necessarily.
Pro Football Focus went through an exercise that graded each team’s offseason up to this point. To say the least, the Steelers’ offseason got sterling reviews. Sam Monson dished out an ‘A’ for the team’s offseason overall. The Steelers were one of six teams to receive an ‘A’ grade, with a few others earning an A-. It ties Pittsburgh for the best off-season grade in the NFL as a result.
“Pittsburgh made several low-key additions in free agency that should help the team significantly from a season ago,” Monson wrote. “Isaac Seumalo has earned PFF pass-blocking grades of at least 77.4 over the past three seasons, while cornerback Patrick Peterson and linebacker Cole Holcomb should both be upgrades. Adding Allen Robinson II for almost nothing in exchange is a huge low-risk, high-reward proposition.”
As for the team’s draft, they earned an A+ grade right after the fallout of NFL Draft. Monson believes that grade still holds up, as he highlighted plenty of positives about the team’s haul over the three days of the 2023 NFL Draft, including the value they got all-around.
“Pittsburgh’s draft was arguably the best in the entire league,” Monson wrote. “Joey Porter Jr. was a natural fit, and they selected him in the second round, not the first, having already secured tackle Broderick Jones. Keeanu Benton should make an impact along the defensive line immediately, and as much as Darnell Washington may have always been overrated as a fringe first-round prospect at tight end, he is a steal at Pick 93 in the third round.”
Now, the Steelers will take the field to see the byproduct of the offseason. A lot of it will be based on the output of Kenny Pickett on offense. He and Matt Canada remain the last two chess pieces to put onto the board of what could be a successful 2023 season.