The Pittsburgh Steelers are famed for their patient offseason plans that seem to always involve a talented player sliding down the draft boards right into their lap. That happened again during the 2015 NFL Draft when Bud Dupree inexplicably fell to the 22nd pick and into a black-and-gold uniform.
2015 NFL depth charts: Steelers need young players like Shamarko Thomas to step up
Shamarko Thomas is the man to replace Troy Polamalu, but that leaves a big question mark for the Steelers to deal with.
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Patience can be a double-edged sword, though, and leave a team with limited options when things don’t shake out ideally like they did with Dupree. Some of Pittsburgh’s biggest question marks, like replacing one of the team’s all-time greats, Troy Polamalu, weren’t addressed much in free agency or the draft.
That’s one of a few questions left to be answered for the Steelers before the season begins:
Can Shamarko Thomas be a viable replacement for Troy Polamalu?
First things first: Polamalu made eight Pro Bowls, earned AP Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2010 and is one of the best safeties of all time. Expecting Thomas to approach that level is just unfair to Thomas, but Polamalu wasn’t very good in the tail end of his career, so it is fair to expect a step up in play at strong safety in 2015.
Whether or not Thomas is ready to be that player remains to be seen, though.
The Steelers gave up a third-round pick to trade up and select Thomas in the fourth round in 2013, but through two NFL seasons he hasn’t been able to stay healthy. He suffered an ankle injury as a rookie and was hampered by hamstring injuries to both legs in 2014.
There isn’t another player on the roster who looks to have a legitimate chance at beating Thomas for the job, either, so the Steelers will have to cross their fingers that he steps up and plays up to his potential.
How will Keith Butler and rookies affect the Pittsburgh defense?
For the first time in more than a decade, Dick LeBeau is no longer the defensive coordinator of the Steelers after a “mutual parting” of ways in January. The job is now Butler’s after 12 seasons as the team’s linebackers coach.
That means there likely won’t be any drastic changes made by Butler, but with so many young players and new fits on the defense, there will be plenty of chances for the new man in charge to make his mark.
Six of the eight selections in the 2015 NFL Draft were on defense, including the first two picks, outside linebacker Bud Dupree and cornerback Senquez Golson. Following the surprise retirement of Jason Worilds, the Steelers need Jarvis Jones to step up and provide a pass rush opposite James Harrison and Arthur Moats. There's plenty of opportunity for Dupree to be a factor as a rookie, though.
Who will step up across from Antonio Brown?
Brown had more than double the receptions and receiving yards of any other wide receiver on the roster for the Steelers in 2014. Still, with Martavis Bryant and Markus Wheaton, the team has a solid starting three to work with at the position.
Both Bryant or Wheaton have the chance to step up and take advantage of the openings that come when a three-time Pro Bowler and first-team All-Pro is working on the other side. Now there's the addition of Sammie Coates, a third-round rookie with freakish athleticism to boot.
If Coates can step up and earn significant playtime as a rookie in 2015, the Steelers could have one of the more dynamic receiving corps in the NFL. And if he can’t, there are a pair of players ahead of him who could also step up and get the team there anyway.
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