There has been no love for the Steelers after the 2021 NFL draft. Especially when they decided to draft a running back in the first round rather than beefing up their offensive line. I think all of the National Media is going to continue to hate on the Steelers until they see Najee Harris's production on the football field. Harris was the right choice because he is considered the best running back of the 2021 draft class and the Steelers were ranked at the bottom 20 for the past three seasons in regards to the running game. So why not add the best running back and then proceed to beef up your offensive line...
ESPN recently released their new power rankings for all 32 NFL teams. They have the Steelers ranked as the 15th best football team in the NFL. That is 5 spots lower than they had the Steelers prior to the NFL draft. The players that benefited the most from the NFL draft are offensive linemen Zach Banner and Chukwuma Okorafor because the Steelers decided to pick a running back and tight end in the first two rounds of the 2021 NFL draft instead of an offensive lineman.
The reason why the Steelers are ranked 5 spots lower is that they did not decide to take a day 1 offensive lineman according to ESPN. With Alejandro Villanueva departing in the 2021 offseason Okorafor is penciled in as the Steelers starting left tackle according to Mike Tomlin. Banner is expected to get the starting right tackle job, but he is coming off of an ACL tear in 2020. With the offensive line being completely unpredictable heading into the 2021 season ESPN feels the Steelers should drop in the rankings unless they show their offensive line is revamped.