The Steelers will have 3 players with double-digit sacks in 2022

The Pittsburgh Steelers are preparing for the 2022 regular season, but before the real games begin, the team has to head to training camp back at St. Vincent College in order to fine tune their skills. As we here at BTSC prepare you for the start of camp, we give you a series called “30 Scenarios in 30 Days” which gives you a Steelers scenario every day leading up to the start of camp.

It is simple how it works. We provide you the scenario, reasons why it will or won’t happen, and then our prediction for what we think will take place.

Let’s get to the scenario...

Scenario: The Steelers will have 3 players with double-digit sacks in 2022

Why it will happen: The Steelers have been on the cusp of this accomplishment for the last three seasons. Starting in 2019, the Steelers had two players with double-digit sacks in each season. It started with T.J. Watt and Bud Dupree in 2019 followed by Watt and Stephon Tuitt in 2020. This past season, it was T.J. Watt and Cam Heyward that both reached double digit sacks. Additionally, players like Chris Wormley and Alex Highsmith were not far off with 7.0 and 6.0 sacks respectively. Adding another player such as Larry Ogunjobi to the line, or another year of improvement with Alex Highsmith, the potential for another player to reach double digits in sacks is right there.

Why it won’t happen: There are a lot of things that have to line up for the Steelers to get three players with double-digit sacks. First, Cam Heyward just made the cut with 10.0 last season, so he couldn’t even lose out on a half a sack and still fit into that category. Additionally, players such as Alex Highsmith would need to get more sacks which could ultimately come at the expense of T.J. Watt. There were plenty of times last season Alex Highsmith may have gotten a sack but T.J. Watt was simply there first. While this could happen, it’s hard to say it will for sure. Also, the Steelers had 11 players register a sack in 2021. With 55 total sacks, that’s an average of five per player who got in on the action. Unless the Steelers go crazy and get over 60 sacks next season, it’s going to be tough to have that many for three different players and not simply be spread out across the team.

Prediction: This time, as much as I’d like to see it happen, I’m going to have to disagree with the scenario. The reason for this is simply because of history. The Pittsburgh Steelers have never had three individuals with double-digit sacks in a season. Even with the extra game, it’s still a difficult category to reach. The last time any NFL team had three players in double digits for sacks was in 2014 where the Buffalo Bills did it for the second time in back-to-back seasons. Before that, it was the 2000 season and the New Orleans Saints. While this stat seems to be something that is attainable, it is actually quite rare. If the Steelers do manage to pull it off, it would be a huge accomplishment.

Check out yesterday’s ‘30 Scenarios in 30 Days’ prediction:

Be sure to stay tuned to BTSC for the latest news and notes surrounding the black and gold as they prepare for the 2022 regular season.