Steelers preseason award predictions, Part 2: Steelers Weakest Link, People’s Choice Award & more

Part 2: Non-Traditional Awards.

It’s “awards prediction season” in the NFL, folks. Earlier this week, I posted an article projecting the Pittsburgh Steelers award winners for traditional categories like MVP and Rookie of the Year. In this piece, part 2 of the same project, I wanted to speculate about some less traditional “awards” for 2022.

Just like with the previous essay, I’ll include a short descriptor to each, and make a case for who I’ve picked. But I’ll also include a poll for each category, including “other” as an option (in case you feel like I missed an important choice).

My goal, as always, is to start a few arguments in the comments section, so have at it. Also, since there is an opportunity to revisit this stuff at midseason or the end of the year, if anyone has a suggestion for a category to add, toss it out in the comments. On with the show. Go Steelers.

First, here’s the shorthand list. Explanations and polls to follow.

People’s Choice Award

This is a good place to start. I think there are guys that, every time they do something (anything), we all get stoked. Think of fans chanting “Heeeeeth” even after he retired. Or how Brett Keisel’s beard became a sensation while he was playing Pro Bowl level. Who do you expect to say, “Man, I love this guy!” at least once or twice per game?

My Choice: Connor Heyward

Man, this is a tough one, and I don’t have a strong feeling about it. Based solely on the preseason, it’s Herbig in a walk, but I don’t know if he’ll play enough to make fans go crazy. I love me some Calvin Austin too, but I’m ultimately going with Connor Heyward, who I expect will see the field plenty, and will pop up in the right place at the right time once or twice a game — just enough that we all say, “Oh man, Heyward again! I love this guy.” But this was hard to call. I look forward to the comments section arguments about this.

People’s Goat “Award”

This might be my favorite question for the polls. I consider it an opportunity for Steelers Nation to admit that we’re not always fair to our own. If you were a fan in the 90s, think of Kordell Stewart as a good example. For more recent fans, I’ve always thought Benny Snell was the prototype “people’s goat” — a perfectly good backup RB and special teamer that many fans just hated for no reason. In other words, these aren’t necessarily stars, but they’re also not bums — they’re perfectly good players who are just detested (unfairly) for some reason.

My Choice: Dan Moore Jr.

My heart wants to give this to Matt Canada, but my head just isn’t sure he’s a good coordinator yet. And if people dislike him because he’s bad at his job, that’s less “unfair” than this award suggests. So instead, I’ll go with Dan Moore Jr., who I’ve thought was a legit NFL tackle for several years now.

I got in a couple of scrapes in BTSC comments sections on draft night because I was disappointed in the Broderick Jones pick — not because Jones is bad (I hope he’s Anthony Munoz) but because I thought Moore was fine. Moore looks good this summer, and may have made some new fans, so maybe he’s not ideal in this spot either (could it be Danny Smith’s year?), but I’ll stay with D.M. Jr. for now.

Biggest (Projected) Disappointment

This is not really an “award” of course. I’m thinking of it as an element of the team that appears to be a strength (or at least solid), but which you think will wind up disappointing us all. Nothing would make me happier than to have all of these areas remain strengths, but no one can know just yet.

My Choice: Running Offense

Strangely, a lot of these are harder to pick than I’m used to. But I guess I’m most nervous about the rushing offense. I don’t know how the division of labor will go (between Harris and Warren), how the blocking will play out (though I’m optimistic here), or what happens if there’s an injury (I’m not sold on Anthony McFarland as more than a spot back). So while it wouldn’t surprise me if the Steelers had a terrific rushing offense this year, I could also see it being pretty disappointing — especially after the 146 yards per game they ran off in the final 10 weeks last season.

Pleasant Surprise

This is the opposite of the Biggest Disappointment: the area that we’re most concerned about based on recent history, but that you predict will be a strength this season.

My Choice: Downfield passing

While this is undoubtedly “pleasant,” it’s probably not much of a “surprise” after the preseason. However, I think most of us still have a “hold off until I see it in game action” attitude. And if you’re like that, then this might be your answer too.

Downfield passing was pretty weak last season, and based on the production in 2022 and the number of returning players/coaches, one might expect it to be poor again this season. But with fingers crossed, wood knocked on, and rabbit feet rubbed, I’ve got a feeling the Steelers will look a little more like the Killer B offenses of 2015 and less like the dead weight offense of 2022.

Steelers Weakest Link

This one is probably self-explanatory. In choosing the options, I decided to emphasize units rather than individual players, since players could be replaced if they aren’t measuring up. For example, if we thought the weak link last year was “QB,” it wasn’t just Kenny Pickett; it was all the guys behind him too, who couldn’t beat him out.

My Choice: Defensive line

This has an asterisk next to it: DL outside of Cam Heyward. And let me go on the record saying that I’m basing this pick on the question marks. I don’t know, for example, how DeMarvin Leal and Isaiah Loudermilk will progress this season; I don’t know if Larry Ogunjobi has another gear (to make him a legit sidekick to Heyward); and I don’t know if Keeanu Benton will eventually prove to be as strong as I want him to be (or if NT will allow him to showcase what he can do). Maybe all these guys will deliver this year, but ultimately, my questions for this unit are more troubling than any other. I also hope the Steelers prioritize DL for next year’s draft. In the meantime, this unit is my trickiest one to feel confident about.

(Side note: none of these are bad position groups. Even the one I went with is currently starting a potential HOFer, after all. I think that’s a really exciting situation. I wrote recently about depth on this team — I think that’s real. And I like it.)

Biggest Loss

A team can feel the absence of a missing head in a lot of ways – sometimes it’s because their physical presence is missing; sometimes it’s their leadership; sometimes it’s their intelligence.

My Choice: Terrell Edmunds

Cam Sutton gave me pause here, but I ultimately went with Edmunds for two reasons: First, Edmunds is the most reliable player the Steelers have fielded in a long time. He missed practically no snaps in his entire Pittsburgh career, and was always at or near the top in tackles. There’s a lot he didn’t do (like creating splash plays) but you don’t lose reliability without feeling it. Secondly, I’m not sure that Patrick Peterson and Joey Porter Jr. aren’t better than Sutton, at least in terms of how the Steelers want to play. So if we’re talking about feeling a player’s loss, we might not feel Sutton’s absence at all.

Addition by Subtraction

The opposite of “Biggest Loss,” this one is about getting rid of dead weight. It doesn’t have to be mean-spirited, though it probably sounds that way. The big question is: who’s departure will help the Steelers improve the most?

My Choice: Akhello Witherspoon

I’m genuinely shocked at how hard it is to come up with meaningful losses from last year’s roster. Even a lot of the previous list were bit-players and backups, so their loss didn’t seem to matter enough to help the team. That’s a fascinating development I didn’t notice until now.

As for this category, I feel bad for Kendrick Green (who wasn’t ready for the roll he was put into as a rookie, and never really progressed past that), and I keep forgetting Malik Reed was ever a Steeler, even though he started several games last year. But Akhello Witherspoon broke my heart in his time in Pittsburgh. In limited action in 2021, he played outstanding football (at least after returning from an injury), and, much like Cortez Allen a decade earlier, that convinced the Steelers that they had a legit starting corner. But they didn’t. Shedding Witherspoon convinced them to draft JPJ and Cory Trice, to apprentice under new signee Patrick Peterson. And if that’s not the definition of “addition by subtraction,” I don’t know what is.

Unsung Hero

This is also probably self-explanatory, but let’s say the Unsung Hero is a secret weapon of sorts — a player who doesn’t get his due in the talking head world, or even sometimes down here among the fans, but who does the damned job and does it well.

My Choice: Damonte Kazee.

Mason Cole was my choice last year by season’s end, and he’s probably a good pick this year too (Daniels too, who we never seem to talk about, but who is a very good interior lineman). But I’m going to go with Kazee — a smart, savvy, ball-hawking veteran, whose return last season from IR gave the Steelers a boost during their closing surge. Much more was made of T.J. Watt’s return (justifiably) and the youngsters’ developments (again, for good reason), but Kazee played great too. And I expect him to again.

Bonus thought: when Kazee led the NFL in interceptions as an Atlanta Falcon, he didn’t even make the Pro Bowl. That’s just about the most “unsung hero” thing I’ve ever heard.

Biggest Wish for the Steelers Regular Season

I’m not including “Steelers win the Super Bowl” because that’s too easy. I’m also not including any of the steps along the way (like “Steelers go undefeated” or “Steelers get the 1-seed”). Those things are all too obvious — we all want them. Instead, these options are a little more modest, and therefore both likelier and more debatable.

My Choice: 6-0 division record

I always wish for this because the AFC North is almost always the best division in the league (or at least has an argument for it). You could say that the Steelers’ 3-3 division record last year was the biggest roadblock to a playoff push in 2022 (or conversely, that their closing two wins, against Cleveland and Baltimore, nearly lifted a 1-4 team into the postseason). In any case, they split with all three AFCN opponents last year and had a composite score in those games of 128-129. That’s ridiculous. It would have taken almost no changes for Pittsburgh to 6-0 or 0-6 in this division. And I think the Steelers have improved dramatically since then.

Ultimately, to go undefeated in this division is extraordinarily hard, but it would be the kind of gauntlet that would battle-test this team. And not to gild the lily, but the last two Steelers teams to go 6-0 in the division (2017 and 2008) went a combined 25-7 on the seasons, took the 2-seed both times, and one of them won the Super Bowl. I’d settle for one of those years again.

To summarize, here’s the shorthand list of my picks:

People’s Choice Award: Connor Heyward
People’s Goat “Award”: Dan Moore, Jr.
Biggest (projected) Disappointment: Running Offense
Pleasant (projected) Surprise: Downfield passing
Weakest Link: Defensive Line
Unsung Hero: Damontae Kazee
Biggest Loss: Terrell Edmunds
Addition by Subtraction: Akhello Witherspoon
Biggest Wish for Regular Season: 6-0 division record

Okay that’s all for the awards show. See you at midseason for the updated polls. Until then, get some sleep, stay hydrated, and clear your schedule. The season is about to start, and it looks like it’s going to be a ride. Go Steelers.