Projecting the 2020 Pittsburgh Steelers starting lineup based on their current roster

The Steelers’ 2020 roster has taken shape significantly since the beginning of the league year last week. With several free-agent acquisitions as well as retaining a number of players from 2019, the Steelers have looked to fill the voids on the roster which gives them freedom in the 2020 NFL draft to go in any number of directions.

With the Steelers working under the philosophy of not expecting their rookies to start, many of the players on the current roster will begin training camp at the top of the depth chart. So who would be the starters on the 2020 Pittsburgh Steelers team as we stand right now? For the most part, the majority of these positions are how many expect. In some cases, I will just have to fill in my best estimate as to where I think the Steelers will go. Of course, feel free to leave any changes or your own personal starting lineup in the comments below.

Offense

QB: Ben Roethlisberger
RB: James Conner
FB: Derek Watt*
WR: JuJu Smith-Schuster, Diontae Johnson, James Washington*
TE: Vance McDonald, Eric Ebron*
LT: Alejandro Villanueva
LG: Stefen Wisniewski
C: Maurkice Pouncey
RG: David DeCastro
RT: Matt Feiler

* depending on which formation the Steelers begin will determine if they are starter.

NOTES: It’s a difficult call on who will be the projected starter a tight end, but with both players being highly utilized I’m not sure it will really matter. The more important item up for debate is the starting left guard. If it Wisniewski can win the job, then Feiler can stay at right tackle. If not, Feiiler would bump down to LG with Chukwuma Okorafor or Zach Banner fighting for the starting tackle position. However it pans out, it should be due to players excelling rather than somebody underperforming.

Defense

DT: Cameron Heyward, Stephon Tuitt
NT: Tyson Alualu*
OLB: T.J. Watt, Bud Dupree
ILB: Devin Bush, Vince Williams
CB: Steven Nelson, Joe Haden, Mike Hilton*
S: Minkah Fitzpatrick, Terrell Edmunds

*it will depend on which personal grouping the Steelers are in to determine who is starting

NOTES: I only addressed the base and nickel defense as I’m really not sure what the Steelers are thinking when they go dime. As you can see, all the starters from 2018 are intact except for nose tackle. I have penciled in Tyson Alualu because of his exceptional play last season, so it would be nice to see the Steelers get him on the field as much as they can. While Chris Wormley or Isaiah Buggs could also possibly be considered, I believe if teams know Daniel McCullers is coming on the field anytime the Steelers are in base 3-4 defense they will do their best to exploit the situation by their personal packages.

Specialties

K: Chris Boswell
P: Jordan Berry
LS: Kameron Canaday

NOTES: I almost didn’t even include the positions, but they are worth noting. Right now these are the only players at their position on the roster so it’s who starts for the time being. The only player I see who could possibly lose their job would be Jordan Berry.

So how do these starting lineups look for the 2020 Pittsburgh Steelers? Has the defense maintained enough to be dominant again this season? Has the offense improved, especially with the addition of Ben Roethlisberger? As I said before, leave your thoughts on who could be the starters in Week 1 as well as any position you believe the Steelers could still afford to improve their starters.