On paper, the Pittsburgh Steelers return almost all of their 2019 starters in some capacity. On offense, guard Ramon Foster retired and on defense, defensive tackle Javon Hargrave left in free agency and linebacker Mark Barron was released. However, despite so many players returning, don’t be at all shocked if there are lots of new faces all over the field once the season gets going.
Offense
The biggest change will be the return of starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. There was no bigger hit to the team in 2019 than Big Ben’s elbow injury.
Beyond the return of Roethlisberger, there are a few more changes we won’t be shocked by. Running back James Conner could lose his spot in the starting lineup with Benny Snell or Anthony McFarland impress enough. The Steelers need to get more dynamic on offense and both guys offer a little more pizazz over Conner.
Speaking of getting more dynamic on offense, the Steelers added tight end Eric Ebron in the offseason. He’s another player who could vault up the depth chart. On the offensive line, there will be at least one new starter to replace Foster. The likely switch is starting right tackle Matt Feiler moves inside and Zach Banner moves into the starting right tackle spot.
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Defense
On defense there will be less turnover. The loss of Hargrave along the defensive line is huge. But Tyson Alualu has starting experience and should be an adequate replacement.
Replacing Barron will be easy. Vince Williams has been a starter for Pittsburgh before and played at a high level. He honestly never should have lost reps to Barron int he first place but he’s going to end up back where he belongs.
Aside from this, the Steelers defensive starting lineup should remain intact. Where things will get interesting is rotational depth on defense but this is a topic for another day.
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