Many felt that the 2013 season was a transition year in Pittsburgh, and that the 2013 draft class needed to be a good one for the Steelers to stay on top.
One year later, it’s certainly not mission accomplished, but the sophomore class still has potential to be the best Steelers class in a long time.
The sophomore class is well established into the nucleus of this team, with 3 of them (Jarvis Jones, Le’Veon Bell, and Markus Wheaton) opening camp as starters.
Two more (Shamarko Thomas and Vince Williams) will likely be great special teams players, and backups that have a lot of starting experience already. Shamarko will also likely be a starter as soon as 2015.
Finally, three more (Justin Brown, Nick Williams, and Brian Arnfelt) are guys that have shown promise and have good shots at making the roster this season.
How this group plays will have a correlation with the Steelers’ record this season, and will likely be some of the biggest stories coming out of training camp.
I see Le’Veon Bell as a safe bet as a contributor. Jarvis Jones and Markus Wheaton making a big jump could take this team from middle of the pack to a dangerous playoff squad.
Jason Worilds will likely be the Steelers best pass rusher this season, if he’s healthy. Teams are going to key on him until Jarvis Jones proves that he can beat left tackles 1 on 1.
Jones is already ahead of most Steelers rookie linebackers though, because the speed of the game won’t be a surprise to him this year.
The Steelers also more or less hired Joey Porter to be Jones’ personal mentor.
Jones showed some big play ability in pre-season last year. The key for him will be acting more on instinct, as he sometimes looks like he’s thinking too much.
Wheaton was considered a steal one year ago, but was slowed down in his rookie year by injuries.
Lance Moore will probably fill the void left by Jerricho Cotchery, but Wheaton has little competition in replacing Emmanuel Sanders.
Indications were that Wheaton was looking strong working with Ben Roethlisberger in the spring, and if he steps up we could see the most dynamic offense the Steelers have had in the Roethlisberger era.
