The Pittsburgh Steelers understood the mistake they made a year ago. Depth behind T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith incredibly thin, the team paid the price when Watt went down with a partially torn pectoral in Week One. Without him, the Steelers pass rush went into the tank and the team didn’t win without him, going 1-6 in his absence last season.
Correcting their error, the Steelers made a subtle but concerted effort to improve their depth. Veteran Markus Golden was brought in on the cheap. Rookie Nick Herbig was taken in the fourth round, continuing the Wisconsin-to-Pittsburgh pipeline.