Black & Yellow: Ecstatic and Undefeated

As The Pittsburgh Steelers prepare for the 2023 / 2024 season, let’s take a look back at their pre-season camp and off-season. Now it’s important to remember that the pre-season isn’t necessarily a great way to determine how good a team will perform throughout the regular season. The ravens (rat birds) had a record 24 game pre-season win streak going and have nothing to show for it when it comes to regular
season success. But still, man does it feel good to go undefeated!

 

Pittsburgh went 3-0 during the 2023 pre-season. This Pittsburgh Steelers team had some questions heading into this pre-season? Can Kenny Pickett look as good as he did last pre-season / season? Can the team take a step in the right direction with the new players added in the off season? Well, I think it’s safe to say, "YES !"

Kenny Pickett finished his 2023 pre-season and he’s been INCREDIBLE!
-158.3 QBR
-13 of 15 passing
-199 yards

-2 touchdowns
-0 interceptions
-86.6 %
-13.2 yards per attempt
-5 drives, 5 touchdowns

I said it before we drafted Kenny, this kid is a stud and will be a future star in the league. Now just because he played great in back to back pre-seasons doesn’t mean that much. Let’s not forget that once Kenny was handed the job last year, he had a pretty darn good season for a rookie. Keep in mind he only played 13 games, starting in 12 of those.

2,404 passing yards
7 passing touchdowns
3 rushing touchdowns
76.7 rating

I’ll be the first to admit, looking at those numbers alone isn’t going to blow anyone away. But WATCHING him play game to game, you could see the growth. Every game he got better and got more comfortable.
Of course he had mistakes and some growing pains (show me a rookie that doesn’t) but, Kenny showed that with time, he could be the next long term starter for this organization. The Pittsburgh Steelers don’t go through quarterbacks often. We take pride in drafting correctly and getting our guy.

 

Now of course that doesn’t mean the Steelers are without their draft pick mistakes. Unfortunately, we missed out on getting the hometown hero and the University of Pittsburgh’s own, Dan Marino. Something that many Steeler fans (like my father) will never forget. All I ever heard about growing up is “what could have been” if we would have taken Dan. I mean the guy was from the city! He went to Pitt. Why wouldn’t we take the home town hero? Well, the Steelers didn’t want to relive that mistake all over again. This time when we had the chance to take a good QB from the University of Pittsburgh…we took him.

 

It looks like now, the Steelers got the QB correct, and the year before they took a stud of a running back in Najee Harris which is ahuge weapon to this offense. Even though admittedly this is a big season for Najee Harris to prove himself. Then they got a STEAL in landing George Pickens! The Steelers are the best team in the league at finding talent at the wide receiver position. It finally looks like they are getting an offense to help match the defense.

So, with one season under their belts, everyone wondered what this team would look like heading into the 2023 pre-season. The Steelers came out SWINGING with a 27 -17 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
They followed that up with an even more impressive win against the Buffalo bills beating them 27-15.
Then, they finished the season with another win against the Falcons by pitching a 24-0 shut out in the process.

 

With all this success in the pre-season, the Pittsburgh Steelers are looking fantastic. For the first time in a long time there feels like there’s HOPE in this organization. Before we drafted Kenny it felt like we were going nowhere fast. We had Big Ben, who helped Pittsburgh win two SB trophies but he felt like an anchor on the team. It finally feels like this team is off sailing full steam ahead!

 

Let’s go over the key additions and departures over the off-season.
Additions:
Drafting OT Broderick Jones
Drafting CB Joey Porter Jr.

Drafting TE Darnell Washington
Signing G Isaac Seumalo
Signing CB Patrick Peterson
Drafting DT Keeanu Benton
Signing WR Allen Robinson
Signing LB Cole Holcomb
Signing S Keanu Neal
Drafting LB Nick Herbig
Signing G Nate Herbig
Signing EDGE Markus Golden
Biggest addition in my opinion - Drafting Joey Porter Jr.

 

Trading up for OT Broderick Jones could be the right answer but, from a value standpoint, nabbing Porter Jr. No. 32 overall is a STEAL. Porter’s IQ for the cornerback position, physicality, and feistiness
against opposing wide receivers could transform the secondary.

 

Departures
CB Cameron Sutton — Free agency departure (Signed with Detroit
lions)
CB William Jackson — Released (Current free agent)
DT Tyson Alualu — Free agency departure (Free agent)
LB Devin Bush — Free agency departure (sighed with Seahawks)
LB Myles Jack — Released (Free agent)

S Terell Edmonds — Free agency departure (signed with
Philadelphia Eagles)
Biggest departure in my opinion - letting Devin Bush walk.

 

The Steelers declined the fifth-year option for their former first-round pick and let him walk in free agency to sign a one-year deal with the Seattle Seahawks. So what can we expect from this black & yellow team this year? It’s all about the young men on this team taking the lead and takinga step in the right direction.
If we see progress from Kenny Pickett and the teams offensive line,the sky could be the limit.

 

MY PREDICTION FOR THE SEASON: the Steelers finish 10-7 and just miss out on making the playoffs.