Pittsburgh Steelers need team effort to reclaim AFC North

The Pittsburgh Steelers aren’t used to being the underdog. Perhaps they’ll revel in the role.

After starting 7-2-1 last season, Pittsburgh crumbled before finishing 9-6-1, missing the playoffs by a half-game. In the offseason, general manager Kevin Colbert traded disgruntled superstar Antonio Brown before watching Le’Veon Bell leave in free agency. In the draft, Colbert attempted to finally replace inside linebacker Ryan Shazier by trading up 10 spots and taking Devin Bush of Michigan.

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Still, there are ample questions around the Steelers. For one, who are the weapons around Ben Roethlisberger? Wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster is the most obvious answer, a star entering his third season. However, there’s little else in the way of a proven Pro Bowl-type player. To that end, Smith-Schuster spoke about second-year man James Washington in an interview with ESPN.

“But you talk about a young dude who’s up and coming, it’s going to be James Washington. A guy from Oklahoma State, came to the Steelers his rookie year, started off slow but figured it out and got the ropes down. This past summer workouts that we had, he’s been doing amazing, a great job. I’m super excited to see how he does this year. He’s our guy that’s going to sneak up on everybody.”

As a rookie, Washington was largely a disappointment, only catching 16 passes for 217 yards. With Brown out of the mix, Washington will be seeing a massive influx of snaps and targets.

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Another question in Pittsburgh revolves around the secondary. Thus far, Artie Burns has proven to be a flop of a first-round choice at cornerback. Steven Nelson was brought in after an inconsistent tenure with the Kansas City Chiefs, hoping to slot in opposite Joe Haden. If Haden can continue to fend off Father Time, Nelson at least provides hope for an upgrade.

The good news for Pittsburgh? The division should be wide open. The Cleveland Browns appear the best team on paper, but Cleveland hasn’t won a division championship since 1989. The Baltimore Ravens are the defending champs, but they lost a litany of stars including outside linebackers Za’Darius Smith and Terrell Suggs, safety Eric Weddle, inside linebacker C.J. Mosley and receivers John Brown and Michael Crabtree.

If the Steelers can ultimately get some production from Washington and see a better bit of pass coverage, there’s reason to believe Pittsburgh can go from underrated to terrifying come the winter.