3 Pittsburgh Steelers who need to step up in 2020

1. Ben Roethlisberger

Ben Roethlisberger only started two games for the Steelers last season before getting injured and missing the rest of the season. The team managed to stay afloat due to their stacked defense, but not having Big Ben out there to run the offense was the team’s undoing.

Big Ben will return in 2020 and that’s great news for the Steelers. He’s not the same quarterback he was at the beginning of his career, but he’s obviously better than the alternative options.

The Steelers are going to be looking at Roethlisberger’s replacement either way because he’s 38 years old and the injuries are piling up for the former first-round pick. Mason Rudolph proved he’s not the long-term answer after Big Ben hangs up the cleats, so that’s good news for Ben, but he still has to play well in 2020 to prove that he can still lead this team.

Quarterbacks have shown they can play into their 40s now and if Roethlisberger decides to go that route, this is a key year for him.

Big Ben had a nice season in 2018, throwing for a career-high 5,129 yards and 34 touchdowns. He also had 16 interceptions, which were the most he had thrown since 2015. The dominant 2018 campaign showed that Roethlisberger still has it and he’ll need to bring it again this year if he wants to remain the signal-caller in the Steel City.

If these three Steelers can up the ante in 2020, the Pittsburgh Steelers will be primed for a playoff appearance.