After 18 years with Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback, the Pittsburgh Steelers entered the 2022 NFL season with a genuine QB competition. Veteran Mitchell Trubisky won out, but the team started slowly and entered its bye week with a 2-6 record. Then rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett took over, nearly leading Pittsburgh to a playoff spot. The Steelers finished 9-8 as Mike Tomlin continued his streak of 16 consecutive seasons without a losing record while building momentum for 2023.

With the NFL regular season, just around the corner, here are four bold predictions for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2023.

Jaylen Warren will take a significant number of carries from Najee Harris

With his occasional hurdles and frequent broken tackles, Najee Harris has been a solid player during his time in Pittsburgh. But it is fair to say that Steelers fans would have expected a little more from a player of his pedigree. The former first-round pick opened up his pro ledger with a pair of 1,000-yard rushing performances, yet the 25-year-old is also averaging just 3.9 yards/carry in his two NFL seasons and 4.2 yards per touch from scrimmage.

Meanwhile, rookie back Jaylen Warren was impressive in his first pro campaign as he earned the trust of head coach Mike Tomlin early on. The undrafted free agent out of Oklahoma State rushed 77 times for an average of 4.9/yards a carry while also hauling in 28 catches at 7.6 yards per pop (versus 5.6 yards/catch for Harris)

Harris is averaging 347 touches from scrimmage per season in his career — which leads the NFL over the last two years. He has hardly looked fresh over this stretch while dealing with numerous injuries. Giving more carries to Jaylen Warren is a necessity, not only to keep him healthy but also because Warren has been the more efficient player.

Nick Herbig will be a Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate

The best rookie performer of the preseason was not a quarterback and he wasn't even a first-round pick. But rather, according to Pro Football Focus, it was Steelers outside linebacker Nick Herbig. The fourth-round pick looked like a slender version of teammate T.J. Watt during these contests, racking up four sacks, six pressures, and four QB hits in only 44 pass-rushing snaps.

With Watt and Alex Highsmith, the Steelers already have two of the best pass-rushers in the NFL. But after his preseason performance, Nick Herbig is going to force his way onto the field and earn a significant number of passing-down snaps.

The Steelers will cut their starting kicker or punter before the season is over

2022 was a bad year to be a specialist in Pittsburgh. Chris Boswell, dealing with injuries, made a league-worst 71.4% of his field goal attempts — including just 5/10 kicks between 40 and 49 yards. Boswell's last poor year came in 2018 (field goal % of 65%) and he followed that up with three seasons where he made at least 90% of his attempts, and he will need a similar sort of bounce back this year.

As for punting, Pressley Harvin improved his average by nearly two full yards in his second season but still finished 28th among 34 eligible punters in yards/punt. Harvin faced stiff competition in preseason from former New York Jets punter Braden Mann. Mann averaged 46.8 yards punt in preseason, including an impressive 45.4 net yards/punt. Pressley has averaged just 37.7 yards per punt, but all six of his punts have landed inside the 20 and he has given up just two return yards.

Whichever punter wins the job, alongside Chris Boswell, will be under close scrutiny this year given last season's struggles at each position. Any extended struggles could result in a starter ending up on the street.

Pittsburgh will have a losing record against divisional opponents

Last season, the AFC North had the second-most wins of any division in the NFL (only trailing the NFC East). This year, it could lay claim to being the best division in football. The Cincinnati Bengals will once again be Super Bowl contenders, the 10-win Baltimore Ravens will have a healthy Lamar Jackson and a retooled group of wide receivers, and the Cleveland Browns will have a full season of quarterback Deshaun Watson.

Pittsburgh has a relatively easy schedule outside of its division, facing struggling teams such as the Indianapolis Colts, Arizona Cardinals, Tennessee Titans, and Houston Texans, but wins will be hard to come by in the AFC North. This may be pessimistic, but Pittsburgh will split against the Ravens and Browns, then will be swept by the Bengals.