Much of the National Media have not been fans of what the Pittsburgh Steelers decided to do during the 2021 NFL draft. Many feel the Steelers shouldn't have taken a first-round running back and instead should have drafted a first-round offensive lineman. The Steelers did take arguably the best running back in the 2021 NFL draft class and if it pans out down the road (which I think it will) then the Steelers can laugh at all of the hate being directed at them after the 2021 NFL draft.
Bleacher Report recently wrote an article that said the Steelers are an NFL team headed in the wrong direction. That is a weird take considering the Steelers managed to go undefeated in 2020 without a running back and now they took the best running back in the 2021 draft... They feel the Steelers only went undefeated in 2020 is because they had a cupcake schedule and beat up on teams that were easy. Granted the Steelers did end up losing 4 out of 5 of their games at the end of the 2020 season, but that is because they did not have a running game.
Going into the 2021 season the Steelers had no choice, but to bring back 39-year-old Ben Roethlisberger who only averaged 6.3 passing yards which is by far the worst of his career says Bleacher Report. Let me remind everyone Ben still managed to put up 33 touchdowns which is the second-best he has produced in his 17-year career. So we can sit here and pick apart statistics all we want.
Although the Steelers were in a dire cap situation going into the 2021 season they managed to keep some key players, but lost players like Mike Hilton, Bud Dupree, and Matt Feiler in free agency. They still managed to keep players like JuJu Smith-Schuster, Tyson Alualu, and Cam Sutton so I am not sure where Bleacher Report is going in regards to the Steelers having a bad offseason because it could have been much worse!
The Steelers decided to use a premium asset at a devalued position says Bleacher Report. They feel Najee Harris could make a difference with the Steelers, but it was odd to see a would-be contender leaking so much talent opt for such a non-premium position at a critical juncture. Bleacher feels this is a last-ditch effort by the Pittsburgh Steelers to become contenders that could backfire on them. They also feel the Steelers could also start becoming the lower team in the AFC North as the division keeps on getting stronger.