Steelers’ first test for their defensive overhaul against the Jets will have to come without rookie drafted to fix major issue
It won’t be easy.
When the Pittsburgh Steelers ended their season by getting bludgeoned for almost 300 yards rushing against the Baltimore Ravens in the playoffs, they went into the offseason with a mindset that it would never happen again. In April’s draft, three of their first four picks were dedicated to the defensive line.
Jack Sawyer, Yahya Black and of course, first-rounder Derrick Harmon denoted a draft class anchored in getting back to the physical ways of Steelers football. The Steelers will be playing a New York Jets team in Week 1 that is going to come out and run the ball at will, with former Steelers QB Justin Fields, I might add.
Meaning, Week 1 will serve as a terrific litmus test for what has been a defensive overhaul in Pittsburgh. The problem is, the key cog, the player aimed to catalyze that revival, he won’t play as Derrick Harmon is officially out.
Derrick Harmon ruled out vs. Jets
Mike Tomlin was pleased with the health of the team, labeling Harmon as the only player who’s clearly out and saying Nick Herbig is questionable. It’s a good sign for Alex Highsmith and Calvin Austin III, who both dealt with injuries throughout camp. But without Derrick Harmon, the Steelers know New York is going to attack their defensive line even more.
“I think [Jets HC Aaron] Glenn has been very transparent about their desire to run the football and their commitment to doing so. And so that has our attention as we prepare,” said Mike Tomlin during his pregame presser on Tuesday. “You can’t talk about the running game, but I talked about Justin’s [Fields] physical abilities in that area and the challenges that he may present to us. . .
” . ..Certainly, he didn’t do a lot of running by design and so forth in the preseason, but it’s reasonable to expect there to be some design running game. He had it in Chicago. He had it with us. I think if you got a guy with his type of talents, it’s somewhat common sense to have some design run game for the quarterback position, to make people play 11 on 11 football.”
Pittsburgh’s defense allowed an average of 109 rushing yards per game, ranking 11th in the league. A team built on defensive mentality, that’s not a bad figure, but it’s a far cry from what the Philadelphia Eagles allowed at a little over 80 yards per game, a league best.
So Week 1 is going to go a long way. If the team looks better and isn’t getting gashed with players like Yahya Black and Keeanu Benton stepping up, it will bode well for what we see when Harmon is back in the lineup.
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