The Pittsburgh Steelers are about to conclude their OTAs for the 2023 season. Now minicamp is looming and many of the naysayers are once again filling up their inkwells with the venom of negativity, attempting to sabotage and downplay the Steelers’ possibility of success for the 2023 NFL season.
However, a few components must be in place for the Steelers to be competitive to win a division crown or compete for a wild card slot.
Let’s begin with continuity. Although there has been a major shakeup regarding the defensive backfield of the Black and Gold, those changes (at least on paper) seem to indicate that overall, the defensive secondary may be comprised of a close-to-perfect mix of veteran defensive backs and newcomers. My theory is if there is a tight-fitting and tight-knit secondary, there is a more-than-average possibility that Steeler outside linebackers T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith may be presented with the opportunity to put a few more sack notches on their belts. Will opposing offensive coordinators double-team both Watt and Highsmith? Theoretically, because of that strategy someone along the defensive line or a defensive back in one of the Steelers’ blitz packages will be freed up because it is almost numerically impossible to double-team both outside linebackers and expect the QB to remain in good spirits and good health.
If the Steelers’ D-line applies sufficient pressure, that may also provide the linebacking corps with additional opportunities into pressuring opposing quarterbacks into prematurely releasing the football resulting in errant throws, incompletions, and interceptions as well as resulting in multiple offensive series resulting in three-and-outs that will ultimately provide more opportunities for the Steeler offense.
What strategies will opposing offensive coordinators use in attempts to neutralize the 2023 version of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ “Big Nasty D?”
Will they keep extra blockers in to face what now is a legitimate threat from both the left and right outside linebacker positions?
Will they attack what many analysts believe might be a mostly weakened Steelers secondary because of adding a few inexperienced and untested faces during the offseason? Finally, will opposing offenses as they have in the past several years run the ball straight at the Black and Gold testing the Steelers’ run defense? Does the current Steeler defense have the moxie to prove that they can be run-stoppers that mirror the great Steeler defenses of the past? Do the Steelers have enough quality players to be promoted to the first chair and step up if any of the first-teamers go down with a long-term significant injury? Two of the main problems that the Steelers must address are fourth-quarter collapses defensively, and tortoise-like starts offensively. The Steelers’ offense must sustain drives so that the defense can be well-rested in order to continue bringing the offense back on the field…..you dig.
Getting back to Alex Highsmith; it has been proven that Watt is far less effective when there is not another body bringing pressure from the opposite side. There must be a physical and mental synergy between players for any tandem in any sport to become and remain successful. A franchise cannot always compensate players equally but must find the means to pay other performers on their roster equitably. Watt and Dupree had achieved success because they were connected to and adjusted to the styles of each other. Maybe someone in the administrative hierarchy of the Black and Gold incorrectly surmised that when the fiscal smoke cleared, Bud Dupree could be the odd man out. When the production of Watt declined after the departure of Dupree, the Steelers found out posthaste that two linebackers performing together were far more effective than one. Now, offenses could double-team T.J. Watt with ease with little or no consequences. T.J. Watt got paid, deservedly so, but the Steelers’ front seven paid the price of losing Dupree as well.
Steelers Digest Assistant Editor and writer Teresa Varley posted this quote from former Steelers outside linebacker Bud Dupree on Twitter on October 5, 2020. “T.J. is my dog. He is a hard worker on and off the field. He is a great person to be around, a great person to exchange and pick brains.”
Watt and Dupree depended on the excellence of one another and both players performed well beyond expectations.
T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith are beginning to establish their own chemistry and if I were management, I would find a way to sign a multi-year contract with Highsmith, not some sort of weak one-year deal while the Steelers develop younger prospects to pair with Watt because this is the NFL, not a Triple-A baseball franchise developing and grooming players for trade, sale or players to be named later.
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