Great Scot: Pittsburgh Steelers’ 53-man roster breakdown

On the defensive side of the ball, the Steelers are still a pretty old unit but if they’re capable of staying healthy, they could end up being the No. 1-ranked defense in the league. Their problem last year wasn’t their ability to keeps teams from gaining a lot of yards or being able to stop them from scoring. The real problem was their inability to gain turnovers, and that is something that has to be addressed this year.

DEFENSIVE LINE

The Steelers’ line no longer has Casey Hampton to anchor it down and now is led by nose tackle STEVE McLENDON, flanked by BRETT KEISEL and ZIGGY HOOD. Hood really needs to step it up this year, not only with causing disruption in the backfield but helping to close up a lane against the run game. Keisel has been solid for years now but he needs his backup Cameron Heyward to spell him from time to time. The depth of this unit is OK with Al Woods and Hebron Fangupo but the defense can’t suffer losses for long or this unit will be in trouble.

STARTER HEALTH IMPORTANCE: ****

BACKUP ABILITY: ***

LINEBACKER

Aug 10, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Ziggy Hood (96) on the sidelines against the New York Giants during the first half at Heinz Field. Mandatory Credit: Jason Bridge-USA TODAY Sports

This year’s group will be given a huge boost once rookie Jarvis Jones is ready to step in as the full-time starter, replacing James Harrison’s tenure over several years. JASON WORILDS will probably get first crack at starting with LaMARR WOODLEY on the other side, who needs to have a much bigger year than he did last year also. The inside group of LARRY FOOTE and LAWRENCE TIMMONS can do some really nice things in both the pass and run, but the overall success of this unit will be based on the line’s ability to do their job and stay healthy. The other linebackers are Chris Carter, Vince Williams and Kion Wilson. Carter could get some playing time if Woodley becomes a two-down player and he’s been solid on special teams too.

STARTER HEALTH IMPORTANCE: ***1/2

BACKUP ABILITY: ***1/2

CORNERBACK

IKE TAYLOR returns as the No. 1 corner while CORTEZ ALLEN has given himself a great shot as full-time starter after turning some heads last year and continuing to do so far this year. This unit will feature the nickle back in William Gay, the dime with Curtis Brown and the Steelers kept Antwon Blake just in case Gay becomes ineffective. This is the group that needs to come up the biggest on the entire team by creating turnovers and shorter fields for the offense. Last year’s group did a very poor job and hence why most of them are not here this year. Taylor has a multi-year deal already so he was safe but he needs to lead this group and not continue to be #IronHandsTaylor.

SAFETY

TROY POLAMALU returns healthy for this season and rumors are suggesting he’s ready to return to the form we all know and love.  His re-emergence as one of the premiere safeties in the league will help this defense in all ways and his ability to stay healthy has almost as much importance for the team as Ben Roethlisberger for the offense. RYAN CLARK also returns in his free safety position; he’s known for his hard hits and is the perfect partner for Troy. Look for these guys to make some noise in 2013 if they can stay healthy.

The defense also got a huge boost by drafting Shamarko Thomas, who hits like Clark and covers like Troy. He just needs some experience to put it all together and could eventually replace Troy or Clark in a year or two. The Steelers also have Robert Golden and DaMon Cromartie-Smith who look to help the team more on special teams than on defense unless a couple of injuries occur.

STARTER HEALTH IMPORTANCE: ****1/2

BACKUP ABILITY: ****

SPECIAL TEAMS

This unit seems to be in a bit of flux right now at the punter position, where Drew Butler won the job out of preseason (beating out Brian Moorman) but then was replaced just this week with new punter ZOLTAN MESKO. Kicker SHAUN SUISHAM returns to the team after having a very solid year and long snapper GREG WARREN also returns. The second Zoltan in Pittsburgh will also handle the holding duties while Stephens-Howling and Jones will handle kickoff returns; Brown and Wheaton will return punts.

UNIT HEALTH IMPORTANCE: ***1/2

BACKUP ABILITY: N/A