Deciding what direction to take at quarterback will be the biggest decision the Steelers make this offseason.
That's no great, earth-shattering statement.
A quick look at the final eight teams standing in the NFL postseason shows that the game's biggest stars – young and old – at the position are largely the players still standing in the playoffs, at least in the AFC.
If you were putting together a list of the top quarterbacks in the NFL, Kansas City's Patrick Mahomes, Baltimore's Lamar Jackson, Buffalo's Josh Allen and Houston's C.J. Stroud would have been at or near the top of that list – at least at the beginning of the season.
All but Stroud had outstanding seasons in 2024 or have been past MVPs or All-Pro. And Stroud was the 2023 NFL Offensive Player of the Year.
But they also weren't all selected early in the NFL Draft.
Mahomes was the 10th pick in the 2017 draft and was the second quarterback selected. Allen went seventh-overall in 2018, while Jackson was the 31st pick in that draft. They were the third and fifth quarterbacks taken in their respective drafts. Stroud was the second pick in the draft, but was the second quarterback selected.
So, there is some good fortune or good scouting – along with some luck – involved in acquiring a star quarterback.
For example, if the Ravens had known that Jackson was going to become what he has, they wouldn't have made him the second of their two first-round draft picks in 2018. They would have traded up with their 25th pick, which they used to select tight end Hayden Hurst, instead of trading back into the first round to take Jackson with the 31st pick.
But short of hitting the lottery in this year's draft, one in which early projections don't show as being particularly deep or talented at the quarterback position, what can the Steelers do moving into 2025 at the NFL's most important position?
Those are the discussions that began to take place at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex this week between team president Art Rooney II, head coach Mike Tomlin and general manager Omar Khan.
"We don't have a quarterback under contract and so we've got some major discussions there," Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said earlier this week. "It was a really good experience with the three quarterbacks that were on our roster this year individually and collectively. We are certainly open to considering those guys, but there's a lot of work ahead of us.
"The major work, obviously, starts first and foremost just understanding what our options are, what the field looks like in terms of free agency, what the draft pool looks like and then beginning the process in terms of decision-making based on known variables, and so Omar and I have got half a day carved out here this week just to begin that component of the discussion."
Given what's available and when some of those decisions need to be made because of the timing of free agency and then the NFL Draft over a month after that, there's a likelihood the Steelers will decide to try to move forward with Russell Wilson, Justin Fields and Kyle Allen – or some combination of that group – in 2025.
Can that be good enough for the Steelers to compete? The Steelers' quarterbacks – mostly Wilson and Fields – combined to throw for 3,264 yards with 21 touchdown passes and six interceptions in 2024. They posted a combined passer rating of 94.8.
That wasn't bad, certainly when compared to the team's quarterback output the previous two seasons. It was good enough to win 10 games in 2024. But it wasn't good enough to win in the postseason.
But here's the thing, looking at the quarterbacks still standing in the NFC, you see Jared Goff in Detroit, Jalen Hurts in Philadelphia, Matthew Stafford with the Rams and Jayden Daniels in Washington.
They're all good players. But they're not at the level of Mahomes, Jackson and Allen in terms of being superstar players – though Daniels might be that in the future. But at least one of those quarterbacks not named Mahomes, Jackson or Allen will be in the Super Bowl.
What their teams have done to ensure that has been to build a strong group around them, particularly in the cases of Goff and Hurts.
If the Steelers can't get the next Stroud or Daniels, who is likely to win NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year for 2025, the next best path to winning is to continue to build as strong a roster as possible regardless of what they do at quarterback.
• The average margin of victory for the NFL's Wild Card games last weekend was 15.1 points.
And though the Vikings ran 71 plays on Monday night, compared to 51 for the Rams, the winning teams in the first five playoff games ran an average of 68 plays compared to 49 for their opponents.
What was the difference for the Rams and how the Vikings flipped that script on them Monday night and still lost? Turnovers and sacks.
The Rams recorded nine sacks against the Vikings and forced two turnovers, including one that was returned for a touchdown. As a result, they won, 27–9.
Defense can still matter in the playoffs if you're making splash plays.
But can it matter in the AFC, which arguably has better quarterbacks?
In the first three games of the AFC playoffs, Houston outgained the Chargers, 429-261, running 70 plays compared to 54 for the Chargers. The Ravens outgained the Steelers, 464-280, running 72 plays compared to 45. And Buffalo outgained Denver, 471-224, running 72 plays compared to 42.
The Steelers and Broncos both failed to force a turnover. And while the Chargers forced three turnovers, they had four of their own.
The Steelers, Chargers and Broncos had three of the stingiest defenses in the NFL in the regular season. But they largely didn't do the things in the postseason that got them to the postseason because playing too much defense against star quarterbacks is not a great recipe for winning.
The one commonality that the Steelers, Chargers and Broncos shared is that while they all had good defenses, their offenses weren't quite as potent.
When coaches and players talk about complementary football, this is a good place to start. While having a good defense is a nice place to start, teams also need a good offense to succeed in today's NFL. The offense helps the defense from being forced to line up to stop the Lamar Jacksons and Josh Allens of the world for 70-plus plays by possessing the ball itself.
• Currently, the Steelers have eight picks in the 2025 NFL Draft, including the 21st pick in the first round and 52nd in the second round. They also have selections in the third, fourth and fifth (from the Rams) rounds, as well as three seventh-round picks.
The overall spot of some of those selections will be adjusted when the NFL announces its compensatory selections. The Steelers are not expected to receive any compensatory picks this year.
But the other thing they have are four draft picks from 2024 who are coming back after playing little to no football this season because of injuries, first-round pick Troy Fautanu, third-round selection Roman Wilson and sixth-round picks Logan Lee and Ryan Watts.
Getting Fautanu back next year will be a big boost to the offensive line and will be like having a second first-round draft pick. He was impressive as a rookie, including starting the team's Week 2 win at Denver, before suffering a season-ending knee injury in practice the following week.
"I feel like I haven't played football in years, just watching," Fautanu said this week. "I'm excited to attack the offseason. I've had my time off. I'm ready to go."
Wilson, like Fautanu, appeared in just one game in 2024, playing five snaps after missing most of training camp, returning and then getting injured again.
But his addition should be a boost to the wide receiver room.
And Watts and Lee could provide valuable depth if they can utilize what they learned from being around the team in 2024.
So, while the Steelers have eight picks in this year's draft, they in some ways have 12 considering four of their 2024 rookies didn't get the opportunity to play because of injuries.
• T.J. Watt aligned on the left side of the defensive line 94.7 percent of the time in 2024, much as he had in previous seasons with the exception of his rookie year, when he was on the right side of the line.
That has worked pretty well over the years.
But Watt was increasingly chipped and double-teamed in 2024, as opponents dedicated two or even three players to ensure he didn't wreck games. As a result, Watt finished the season with 11.5 sacks, his fewest in a full season since his rookie season.
Watt said this week he's open to moving around the defense more often next season.
"Teams are playing certain ways with chips and helps and stuff like that and getting the ball out quick and I need to be more open to moving around more and trying to affect games as much as possible," Watt said. "You guys know I want to affect the game more than anybody but I don't want to selfishly go to a different spot when I feel like I could have a better rush on the left side.
"I definitely feel like, schematically, it's been a tough year with how offenses have schemed things to try and get me out of the game. It's going to be a big breakdown for me to try and find ways to make plays."
It's what other teams do with their biggest pass-rush stars, as Myles Garrett, Max Crosby, Micah Parsons and others move around the line to keep offenses from determining their protection plan based on knowing where those star rushers will be.
It's understandable that the Steelers haven't done that as much with Watt. In Cam Heyward, Alex Highsmith and even backup Nick Herbig, they have premium pass rushers at multiple spots.
But to Watt's point, knowing where he will be on every given play – or most of them – allows opponents to develop a concrete blocking plan.
• Dale Lolley is co-host of "SNR Drive" on Steelers Nation Radio. Subscribe to the podcast here: Apple Podcast | iHeart Podcast Pittonline@iheartmedia.com
Moving Watt around more would be a change, but it wouldn't be a seismic one.
"I don't know that a lot of dramatic changes need to be made regarding T.J. Watt, to be quite honest with you," said Tomlin. "I think his resume and production speaks for itself. He's been ridiculously consistent over his stay here, and even in the midst of the 2024 season that didn't unfold in the way any of us would like. I've got a lot of things that have my attention before I start getting into T.J. Watt-like production in terms of my to-do list."
• That Watt's season is being looked at in some circles as a "disappointing" one just shows how high he has raised the bar.
Watt finished the season with 61 tackles, 11.5 sacks, a league-best six forced fumbles, 19 tackles for a loss, 27 quarterback hits and two fumble recoveries.
For most players, that would be a "career-year."
To put Watt's sack total into perspective, realize that the sack has been an official statistic in the NFL since 1982. That means there have been more than 40 seasons since the sack has become a league-recognized statistic.
Watt's 11.5 sack total from 2024 would have led the Steelers in 26 seasons since 1982. And just seven players in team history have officially had more sacks in a season than Watt's 2024 total.
Yes, Watt didn't have 22.5 sacks as he did when he tied the league record in 2021 or the 19 that he recorded in 2023.
But he made an impact on every single play on which he was on the field in 2024 simply because every opponent had to account for him on each of the 938 defensive snaps he took during the regular season.
