Behind the Steel Curtain
So… Mike McCarthy is the new head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. And it doesn’t matter where you go, whether it’s real life, the hellscape of Twitter/X, or even the familiar halls of Behind the Steel Curtain — the mood is the same: confusion, anguish, and a general sense of dread.
I’m not necessarily here to push back on any of that. There will be plenty of articles forthcoming about McCarthy, his new coaching staff, and what it will mean for Pittsburgh in the upcoming season. But for a moment, I figured it would be nice to slow down on the coaching insanity and look at something a little different, and maybe even optimistic: offseason roster building.
OK, maybe this question is too obvious. The first answer would be quarterback, where the Steelers continue to search for a plus starter for another year post-Ben Roethlisberger. It’s a need that won’t be easily filled, but it will also be near-impossible to compete for a Super Bowl until then.
But we all knew that. Taking quarterback out of the equation, wide receiver immediately jumps to the top of the roster needs list. The Steelers suffered yet another season without a quality WR2 in 2025, and the results were unsurprisingly bad: an anemic passing game that nearly collapsed entirely once its one good receiver, D.K. Metcalf, was suspended for two games.
Scheme is an important part of the battle in the NFL, but so are good players. Metcalf finished with just 850 yards, while Calvin Austin III — who wasn’t even starting by the end of the season — finished second in the wide receiver room with a mere 372. (He and Metcalf were the only Steelers receivers to break 200 yards on the season).
Running back Kenneth Gainwell and tight end Pat Freiermuth finished tied as the second-leading receiver on the team with 486 yards each. For context, 83 players leaguewide crossed the 500 receiving yards threshold in 2025. Just one of them was a Steeler.
Pittsburgh desperately needs a talent infusion at the position. It may not be in the first round of the draft, but it has to be addressed in the first two days, or with a big free agent paycheck.
But maybe wide receiver is too obvious an answer as well. What about an underrated roster need? What comes to mind there is inside linebacker. Patrick Queen has become an increasingly popular cut candidate this offseason, but he’s also the team’s most valuable player at his position by far.
Payton Wilson started off the season in an expanded role but slowly lost reps to Malik Harrison, a free agent who was brought in to be a limited run stuffer at best but still struggled in that role.
The Steelers could use another dart throw at the position. The good news is that the vast majority of the top linebackers in the NFL were not first-round draft picks. A Day 2...
