3 Steelers starters who should be benched if they don’t show out in Week 2

Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers have a roster full of talent. They have so much talent that many of their backups are deserving of starting spots. This amount of talent leaves some Steelers needing to show out in Week 2 in order to keep their spot.

From quarterback to punter, there are a ton of different spots in Pittsburgh that could look a lot different in the coming weeks. Which three starters could be benched if they don't show out in the Steelers' Week 2 matchup with the Denver Broncos?

3. LT Dan Moore Jr.

The biggest hole on the Steelers' offense is at left tackle. This has been known ever since Dan Moore Jr. began starting for Pittsburgh. Moore is constantly bullied in the run game, providing nearly no support to the Steelers' running game. Moore is also a liability in pass protection. He's constantly pushed back in the quarterback's lap whenever an edge rusher uses a bull rush. He's also not agile enough to beat the speed rush moves around the edge.

Pittsburgh drafted Moore's replacement in the first round this year. They selected Troy Fautanu out of Washington with their top draft selection. Fautanu looked to be in line to start for the Steelers this year, but the rookie tackle was injured in training camp. This injury completely shut down any chance that Fautanu would crack the starting lineup, locking Dan Moore in as the starting left tackle.

The Steelers picked Fautanu and Broderick Jones in the first rounds of the 2023 and 2024 drafts to be their offensive tackles of the future. This was the plan going into the year until the injury derailed that. Now that Fautanu is healthy, Moore needs to be perfect or else Mike Tomlin will look to quickly replace him with the rookie tackle.

2. P Corliss Waitman

During the offseason, the Steelers picked up Cameron Johnston to be their punter. Johnston looked to be the first huge leg that the Steelers have had at punter in years. For the last decade or so, Pittsburgh's punters have struggled and struggled and struggled. This may not seem like a huge deal, but for a team that relies on field position and defense, the punter is a crucial job to win the field position battle.

That's why the pickup of Johnston was such a huge one for the Steelers. But, it took just one game and a few drives for Johnston to suffer a season-ending knee injury. He was drilled on a punt against the Atlanta Falcons that somehow resulted in a penalty against Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh swiftly picked up Corliss Waitman to be their punter for the rest of the year. Waitman punted a little for the Steelers back in 2021 before punting for the Broncos in 2022 and being out of the league in 2023. His leash is going to be very short for the Steelers. If he botches a few snaps or a few punts, Pittsburgh will likely drop him and find somebody who can do the job. More than likely, Waitman will be fine, but if he doesn't show out, he could be out of a job again.

1. QB Justin Fields

The easiest pick on this list is the Steelers sitting quarterback, Justin Fields. Fields was picked up alongside Russell Wilson in the offseason to battle it out for the Steelers' new starting quarterback. It seemed as though Wilson had won the battle between the two, being announced as the Week 1 starter. Wilson was still struggling with a calf injury late in the week leading up to the first game. This prompted Mike Tomlin to come out and announce Fields as the new starter.

Fields wasn't the best quarterback of the week in the game against the Falcons, but he was a great game manager, and he won the game for Pittsburgh. He led six scoring drives, though they all resulted in field goals. Fields was active with his legs and a big part of the offensive success that Pittsburgh had.

This caused Mike Tomlin to announce early in the preparation for Week 2 that Fields would be the starter when Pittsburgh traveled to Denver to play the Broncos.

Though Fields is the current starting quarterback for the Steelers, it should be seen as a very tight race for the spot. Wilson is right behind him, when healthy, and any slip-up from Fields could result in Wilson taking his place. If the Ohio State product doesn't show out in Week 2, we could see Wilson begin his Steelers career sooner rather than later.