The Pittsburgh Steelers had a wild ride in 2019.
They started out with high hopes, but just two weeks into the season superstar quarterback Ben Roethlisberger went down.
With Roethlisberger out for the season due to injury, suddenly things looked much more bleak. Could the Steelers overcome the quarterback's injury? It didn't seem like it at first, as they started the year 0-3 and 1-4.
A early-mid-season burst reversed their fortunes, as Pittsburgh soon found themselves 5-4 though.
However, the rollercoaster didn't stop their, as they lost to go to 5-5, but won three more in a row to rocket up to 8-5. Then the Steelers lost three in a row to end the year 8-8, just missing out on the playoffs
It was truly a year of runs. And one that showcased plenty of strengths and weaknesses for the team.
As we are now in the middle of free agency, they have a chance to fix some of those weaknesses though. What is the Steelers' biggest need in free agency though?
One look at last season could indicate that the Steelers are in desperate need of a quarterback. Yes, they have Roethlisberger, but last season likely opened their eyes at just how fragile that position is.
The quarterback has been a constant for them. He has stayed healthy for the majority of his career. However, he's now entering his year 38 season and coming off a serious injury.
And the backups last season (Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges) were not good. Clearly, the Steelers are in need at the position.
You could argue they also came into the offseason with multiple other needs. However, they have already addressed some of them, including getting Eric Ebron at tight end and adding offensive linemen depth in Steven Wisniewski.
Meanwhile, the defense is not perfect, but it's definitely their biggest strength.
Okay, they still need help at receiver. Last season made it look like JuJu Smith-Schuster struggled without Antonio Brown to take away a lot of the pressure.
However, James Washington and Diontae Johnson both had strong seasons, giving them a solid unit at the position.
Even more important, that was with Rudolph and Hodges at quarterback for the heavy majority of the season.
So sure, you could argue that the problem was at receiver, but it was likely much more of a quarterback issue.
Which brings us back to the backups. There are a few players that could be perfect as backups to Roethlisberger. Blake Bortles and Brett Hundley could be extremely cheap options. Meanwhile, Joe Flacco might available as a backup and could be less expensive than initially thought.
Getting a backup for Roethlisberger should be of utmost priority. They can't run into a situation like they did last season. Drafting a rookie could help in the longterm, but if they want to compete now, they need someone who can step in for Roethlisberger at the drop of a hat.
Finding a backup might not sound like the most important move in free agency, but when it comes to Pittsburgh, that's the exact situation.
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