Pro Football Focus has not been a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers 2021 offseason. They have been pretty brutal on the organization and it seems like they're throwing a temper tantrum just because the Steelers chose the best running back in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft instead of reaching for a second-round offensive lineman in the first round. The Steeler's problems have been clear over the past several seasons since Le'Veon Bell decided to leave Pittsburgh. They have finished in the bottom of the NFL in regards to the running game since he has left town. So it would only make sense for the Steelers to draft the best running back especially knowing Najee Harris would not make it to their second pick.
The temper tantrum from Pro Football Focus seems to be continuing as they have ranked the Steelers 12th in their latest Power Rankings. They give the Steelers a 0.7% chance to win the Super Bowl in 2021 and rank TJ Watt as their top player on the team giving him a grade of 91.6. It seems TJ Watt is one of the only players PFF feels very high on because they think Ben Roethlisberger is 'washed up' heading into the 2021 season.
PFF also believes the Pittsburgh Steelers are the third-best team in the AFC North even though they won the AFC North in 2020 without a running game and a 38-year-old quarterback who they think is 'washed up.' PFF feels the Ravens are a top-5 NFL football team heading into the 2021 season and the Browns are a top-10 NFL football team. At least they aren't saying the Bengals will have a better record than the Pittsburgh Steelers as Adam Schein said recently.
Ben Roethlisberger feels much of the media are overlooking the Pittsburgh Steelers heading into the 2021 season. Ben has a right to feel that way because they were undefeated in 2020 (11-0) at one point during the season. Now the Steelers will have the best running back on their football team from the 2021 NFL draft. Yes, they did lose Bud Dupree, but they have Alex Highsmith. They lost Matt Feiler and I feel Zach Banner is just as good if he can stay healthy. The only question mark going forward will be in regards to filling Mike Hilton's position as well as filling in Maurkice Pouncey's role at the center position. The Steelers feel they have those filled with one of their current cornerbacks on the roster and Kendrick Green going forward.
So why all of the hate towards the Pittsburgh Steelers every single offseason for the past 3 seasons? Everyone knows the Pittsburgh Steelers do not like to rebuild, but rather reload during the offseason. The question going forward for the Steelers will be if they can find a quarterback to take the reins from Ben Roethlisberger... If they can find a quality quarterback then I think the organization will be fine, but the disrespect will continue in the future from the National Media.