By: Jake Rajala

The Pittsburgh Steelers are developing new chemistry in the Big Ben-less era, so the team in Gotham needs to strive to be more well-rounded moving forward. With that said, I’m going to simply untwine three underachieving players that need to improve in 2022.

Devin Bush

I know that Steelers nation wants to put Devin Bush in a pillory and throw tomatoes at him forever. Bush hasn’t lived up to expectations in his short career thus far: After a strong rookie season, Bush played in only five games his sophomore season, and then he was a flat-out liability in his third season. PFF handed him a 34.4-grade last season and it was obvious that the Steelers weren’t feeling warm and fuzzy with their LB spot entering the 2022 off-season. Myles Jack was brought into the building and they also hired Brian Flores, who has also impressed the LB group thus far. Hopefully, Bush can turn the corner in his contract season.

Terrell Edmunds

The Steelers might be unpleased with their 2019 draft choice in Devin Bush, but they are also hoping the 2018 draft pick Terrell Edmunds can turn around his career. Edmunds has been a bust in his career thus far, but he has a unique set of strengths and weaknesses. The Jets X-factor outlined how Edmunds gave up 4.7 yards per reception in man coverage last season, which was eighth-best among safeties. Although, it would be an understatement to say he was abysmal against the run in 2021. He ranked 34th by PFF against the run, which was second-worst among safeties.

Mason Rudolph

The Steelers planned on giving Mason Rudolph an opportunity to be the QB1 after the playoffs, but it’s clear that things have changed. Mitch Trubisky is the clear QB1 at the moment, while Kenny Pickett may have more potential than any other QB2 in the league. Despite the kind thoughts that Tomlin expressed for Rudolph prior to the NFL combine, the reindeer QB clearly didn’t show enough in his tenure to gain a lot of hope/reps after the 2022 NFL draft. He may also be traded this off-season or before the trade block in the season.

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By: Jake Rajala

The Pittsburgh Steelers (miraculously) earned a playoff ticket last season, but they will need to focus on unveiling success without their long-time quarterback Ben Roethlisberger next season. With that said, I’m going to simply outline the three biggest obstacles for PIT in 2022.

The ceiling of their starting QB

I actually believe that Mitchell Trubisky can throw around 25 touchdowns as the QB1 in Pittsburgh. I also believe that the potential starting QB Kenny Pickett, also known as the most pro-ready rookie QB, can make splash plays with the WR group and continue to make few turnovers (only 7 ints in his senior season).

Although, I don’t love the ceiling of either QB at this point in time. The lack of fireworks from the Steelers offense resulted in the Chiefs mopping the floor against the Steelers in the wild-card round. It will be a tall task for the new QB1 and the JuJu-less offense to upend explosive AFC teams.

The LB position

The Steelers should be able to unleash a quality pass defense without Joe Haden and I trust in the Steelers DL (T.J. Watt, Cameron Heyward) to continue to hunt down opposing signal-callers. Yet, I’m not exactly confident in Devin Bush in 2022. He hasn’t been a reliable starting LB (to say the least) and it’s unclear if Myles Jack can bounce back after being released from the Jaguars. The outlook of the Steelers LB group is quite hazy and they could really have a big swing in the success of the Steelers defense.

Cincinnati Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals swept the Steelers last season and it’s clear Mike Tomlin needs to brew a superb plan to dismantle the Bengals in 2022. It would make a big difference if the Steelers could win one of their two match-ups against Cincy next season. The Bengals added La’el Collins and their offense should be overly prolific for the second straight season. The Steelers need to find a way to dissect the Bengals pass defense that isn’t even close to the same caliber as the Bengals passing offense.

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