That time of year again, with free agency around the corner, my tradition of ranking positional needs most pressing to least pressing. People won't agree with some of the rankings, but then again what's the point of being different if one can't have different opinion
1. Safety: This was a position of need last year yet they did little to address it and it came back to bite them. All they did was spend a 6th round pick on Wilcox then let him sit on the bench. Depth and talent is paper thin. Mitchell may be gone (thank god), Wilcox may also be gone though they both may still be on the roster by traning camp. Literally all they have at this position is the hope that the newly hired Tom Bradley will turn Sean Davis into a better play. Getting a safety is a must, probably multiple safeties, preferably at least one who can play free safety
2. Inside Linebacker: Again this was a position that needed to be addressed, and again little was done to address and again it came back to bite them. Honestly, you could easily put this no. 1 and this is a close 2nd for me in the wake of Shazier's devastating injury which likely spells the end of his career. Vince Williams showed promise last year which puts it behind safety for me, but the trio of Matekevich, Fort, and Spence shouldn't be starting NFL games and again multiple inside linebackers are needed as depth and talent are in very short supply
3. Outside Linebacker: While not receiving as much attention as the top 2 picks, there is still a shortage of depth and talent here. TJ Watt showed a lot of promise and his future looks bright, but outside of that, all there is the disappointment of Bud Dupree, Moats and Chickillo, neither of whom should be starting and last year's draft pick Keion Adams, who I question has the size to play OLB in the NFL. At a premium position, this should be addressed.
4. Running Back: This shouldn't be much of a need, and it wouldn't if selfish Bell cared more about his team and less about drawing attention to himself and pretending he's worth a few million more than he really is. James Connor is currently the only RB under contract. They need to get their hands on more RBs.
5. Tight End: Steelers haven't had a reliable starting TE since Heath Miller retired. Jesse James and Xavier Grimble are nothing more than backups, Vance McDonald has not shown to be reliable with drops and injuries or worth trading out of the 4th round to get him. A better TE could also serve to offset Selfish Bell's lack of reliability and probable eventual departure
6. Quarterback: I thought I would put this higher around midseason, but Ben showed he still had something left and wants to play 3 more years. That being said, Ben is still injury prone and all they have is Landry Jones who's biggest asset seems to be barely beating the awful Browns and major question mark Josh Dobbs. The need for a more reliable backup as well the unknown surrounding how long Ben will truly play, prevents this from being lower
7. Cornerback: So happy to move this down after being in my top 2 needs the previous few years. Haden was a surprise and Mike Hilton was an even bigger surprise. There are a few question marks here such as William Gay's likely departure, Haden's health, and the unknowns surrounding Artie Burns and Cam Sutton, though Cam Sutton impressed, and there is hope Burns can improve under DB coach Bradley. Still though, CB is as good of shape as it's been in years
8. Defensive Line: Some people will want this higher because they want a run stuffing nose tackle. However increasing use of subpackages has reduced the need and use of a run stuffing nose tackle. They have 3 solid starters in all-pro Heyward, Tuitt, and Hargrave (and there are a lot of reports that Hargrave is underutilized). Also Alualu and L.T. Walton provided good depth last year. At most they could use a replacement for McCullers, but they have good pieces in place and a newly acquired D-line isn't likely to play much anyway
9. Offensive Line: Some people will argue this should be higher, and yes they could benefit from adding a couple backups, but this is still one of the best and most talented offensive lines in the NFL assisted by arguably the best O-line coaches in the league in Munch. There are certainly a lot of more pressing needs right now
10. Wide receiver: The biggest question on this team surrounding this position is the no. 4/5 WR position with Eli Rogers' ACL. AB is one of the 3 best players in the game and Juju came on strong as a rookie not legally allowed to drink most of his rookie season. Bryant is likely gone next year, but all indication is he will still be around this year and his attitude has improved. With Rogers logging 18 receptions and failing to reach 200 yards as the no. 4 reciever, there really isn't much of a need here at all, maybe just 1 or 2 players at the bottom of the depth chart if that
Rankings will be updated right before the draft