If you are looking for an NFL roster, one of the areas you need to keep an eye on is young talent. Having a quarterback on his rookie deal, and less costly, could be a team lead for immediate success.
Having great contributions from every young player is an enormous impetus for the team. Not only for saving the salary cap, but for having a player who enters the league already developed enough to actually contribute in a big way.
Recently, ESPN made their NFL Power Rankings based on players who are 25-and-under. Some of the teams on this list are well known, while others may raise some eyebrows. When many people think of the Steelers, for example, few think of young players. Most people think of an offensive line that comes long in the teeth, and an aging Ben Roethlisberger.
According to ESPN, however, the Steelers find themselves in the middle of the Top 10 according to those parameters.
Check out the Top 10:
1. Baltimore Ravens
2. New York Giants
3. Arizona Cardinals
4. Buffalo Bills
5. San Francisco 49ers
6. Pittsburgh Steelers
2019 rankings: 8
Blue chip players: Minkah Fitzpatrick, FS; Devin Bush, ILB; JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR
Notable graduate players: TJ Watt, OLB; James Conner, RB; Mason Rudolph, QB
Lost in an anemic offense without regular quarterback starter Roetlisberger, the Steelers’ defense moderated in a top-three unit against both the touchdown and the pass, despite key members under 25 and unexperienced. Star pass rusher TJ Watt missed the cut for this ranking, but 2019 first-round Devin Bush started 15 games as a rookie, called the defensive line from his middle linebacker position, and justified his three-down role with a 60% coverage coverage rate. If he can just make modest improvements to his 18.3% broken tackle rate, he deserves Pro Bowl consideration.
With five interceptions and both an interception return and a fumble recovery back for a touchdown in 2019, in-season trade sales Minkah Fitzpatrick was at the center of the Steelers’ unsustainable turnover happiness; they finished 19.0% of their opponents’ drive with a turnover, 1.7% more often than even the Patriots in second place. Still, there is no doubt that Fitzpatrick is a blue-chip player and, at 23 years old and with three years left on his rookie contract, it is well worth the first round the team has traded for him. The Steelers’ own safety for the first round of 2018, Terrell Edmunds has been less productive in his two seasons. But he has offered impressive totals of 41 runstops and 15 run defeats to give an uninspiring success rate of 46% coverage. With Fitzpatrick behind him, Edmunds could confidently play as a de facto linebacker.
After standout rookie and sophomore seasons, JuJu Smith-Schuster could have a pass for a down 2019 season with terrible quarterback play. Amazingly, he is still only 23 years old. Meanwhile, even without Roethlisberger, the Steelers continued to develop a reputation as a wide receiver university. James Washington recorded an efficient sophomore season with an 11.2% DVOA despite seeing just 10 of his 25 deep goals catch. One would think that those deep passages would be his specialty, given his speed; his top speed of 21.25 mph was the fastest at the 2018 Senior Bowl. Diontae Johnson led the team with 92 goals and 59 receptions during his rookie season. And second-round rookie Chase Claypool has the size at 6-foot-4 and 238 pounds and physically to run out a receiving corps with the necessary attributes to address any kind of defensive weakness. They even rushed a quick, receiving-possible fourth round back into Anthony McFarland to supplement the still-young powerback Benny Snell as perhaps injured veteran James Conner is unable to withstand his suspected three-down workload in 2020.
7. Jacksonville Jaguars
8. Cleveland Browns
9. Houston Texans
10. Kansas City Chiefs
What do you think of the Steelers rankings in these Power Rankings? Do you think they should be higher? We all know that this means absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things, but they are good for quality discussion and debate. Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
