Continuing our Steelers Depot debate offseason series, who can the Pittsburgh Steelers least afford to lose to a long-term injury? Putting quarterback aside, the answers might be as varied as ever.<\/p>\n
Does T.J. Watt still take the top spot? Is it someone else defensively? Or is a name on offense more valuable?<\/p>\n
Ross McCorkle, Jake Brockhoff, Jeremy Pike and I debate.<\/p>\n
Depot Debate: Which Non-QB Can Pittsburgh Least Afford To Lose?
\nAlex Kozora \u2013 OT Troy Fautanu<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh has spent plenty of energy and capital rebuilding its offensive line. Finally, it\u2019s nearly all the way there. The group took big strides throughout 2025 and is poised to be even better this season.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s precisely why it would be a gut punch to lose Fautanu for any length of time. Shifting over to left tackle as Aaron Rodgers\u2019 new blindside protector, Fautanu was excellent in his first full year healthy a year ago. Even with Myles Garrett out of the AFC North, the NFL still offers plenty of intimidating pass rushers who can wreck an offense\u2019s day.<\/p>\n
Dylan Cook and, if healthy, Broderick Jones are backup options. But that assumes Cook is able to play well over the long haul after a brief flash last year. Defenses have tape on him and will begin to punch back.<\/p>\n
It also assumes Max Iheanachor is ready to play. That\u2019s no guarantee. Jones\u2019 health is a coin flip, and though his play clearly improved a season ago, it was hardly anything more than average.<\/p>\n
Fautanu is an ascending player at a premium position. Fautanu going down is simply tough to replace and makes him immensely valuable to Pittsburgh\u2019s 2026 success.<\/p>\n
Ross McCorkle \u2013 SS DeShon Elliott<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not quite as dire as last season at safety, but losing Elliott would once again put the Steelers defense in a tough spot. Most other positions have plenty of depth, but safety does not. Jaquan Brisker and Jalen Ramsey can hold down the fort, but what would that do to Pittsburgh\u2019s nickel and dime packages?<\/p>\n
The Steelers want to weaponize players like Jalen Ramsey, but they can\u2019t do that if he\u2019s stuck at safety again. Pittsburgh paid the price last year for not having its playmakers in ideal positions to make plays.<\/p>\n
Beyond the impact that losing him would have on the overall scheme, he\u2019s been one of the Steelers\u2019 best defenders when healthy over the last two years. He\u2019s as sure a tackler as they come and makes a real impact for the run defense \u2014 an area the Steelers have struggled in recent years.<\/p>\n
The secondary is deep and talented overall, but Elliott is the one injury that could threaten to topple the entire foundation of the system.<\/p>\n
Jake Brockhoff \u2013 C Zach Frazier<\/p>\n
In the last four years, the Steelers have drafted three offensive linemen in the first round. Despite that, arguably their most valuable addition to the unit didn\u2019t come in that round at all. Instead, it\u2019s second-round center Zach Frazier.<\/p>\n
Frazier was forced onto the scene early in his rookie year, with Nate Herbig suffering an injury before the season began. Frazier started 15 games that season and went on to play in every game for Pittsburgh in 2025.<\/p>\n
Throughout both those years, he\u2019s been very impressive. Last year, he was flagged three times, allowed just one sack and gave up 10 pressures. Playing over 1,000 snaps, he remained healthy and reliable.<\/p>\n
Frazier rolls into the 2026 season with higher expectations than ever. After two solid years to start his career, some analysts are already expecting him to compete for a spot on the All-Pro team<\/a>. If Frazier is anywhere close to that, he\u2019ll be doing more than enough, but that\u2019s a sign of how impressive he\u2019s been throughout his first two years.<\/p>\n The offensive line is always the most important unit on an offense. It\u2019s even more important when protecting a 42-year-old quarterback. The unit did its job for the most part last year, led by Frazier anchoring things in the middle. After already developing a great relationship<\/a> with Rodgers, as the heart of the offense line, Frazier is the player the Steelers can least afford to lose.<\/p>\n Jeremy Pike \u2013 CB Joey Porter Jr.<\/p>\n The Steelers added some talent at the cornerback position this offseason with the free-agent signing of Jamel Dean and the drafting of Daylen Everette. The depth chart, on paper, is in the best situation it\u2019s been in years. That\u2019s why the prospect of losing Joey Porter Jr. for a significant stretch of time would be very problematic.<\/p>\n If Porter were to miss much time in 2026, the Steelers would struggle defensively to contain teams that are able to field multiple quality wide receivers. The best example of that is in the AFC North with the Cincinnati Bengals. The Steelers need as many good corners as possible in matchups like that, and of course, the Steelers play the Bengals twice a year.<\/p>\n This is part of why Porter\u2019s contract status is so important. The Steelers need him on the field, so getting a contract extension worked out sooner rather than later is a good thing.<\/p>\n As our very own Joe Clark said<\/a>, Joey Porter Jr. is \u201cgoing to be the Steelers\u2019 most important defensive piece in Patrick Graham\u2019s defense\u201d to start the season. The Steelers are facing a murderer\u2019s row of wide receivers to open the season. And it never gets any easier. <\/p>\n If Porter misses time this year, the Steelers will be scrambling to deal with the top wide receivers. That will weaken new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham\u2019s defense, and that\u2019s a big problem.<\/p>\n Past Depot Debates<\/p>\n Will Yahya Black Take Over For Keeanu Benton At NT?<\/a>
Which EDGE Rusher Will Have The Most Sacks?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Continuing our Steelers Depot debate offseason series, who can the Pittsburgh Steelers least afford to lose to a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":224470,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[13239,3281,73,75,74,1833,54839,55517],"class_list":["post-224469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-deshon-elliott","tag-joey-porter-jr","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-troy-fautanu","tag-zach-frazier"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224469\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}