Steelers 2005 Roster vs 2023 Roster

I was looking at the 2005 Roster of the Steelers in comparing it to our Roster today. Do you think our roster today stacks up with that Super Bowl one?

2005 Steelers


QB Ben Roethlisberger / Charlie Batch

RB Willie Parker

RB Jerome Bettis / Duce Staley / Verron Haynes

TE Heath Miller / Jerame Tuman


WR Hines Ward

WR Antwaan Randle El

WR Nate Washington / Cedric Wilson


LT Marvel Smith

LG Alan Faneca

C Jeff Hartings

RG Kendall Simons

RT Max Starks


K Jeff Reed

P Chris Gardocki


OLB/Edge – Joey Porter

OLB/Edge – Clark Haggans / James Harrison

LB – James Farrior

LB – Larry Foote


DL – Aaron Smith / Travis Kirschkie

DL – Kimo Von Oelhoffen / Brett Kiesel

NT – Casey Hampton / Chris Hoke


CB – Ike Taylor

CB – Deshea Townsend / Brian McFadden

SS – Troy Polamalu

FS – Chris Hope / Tyrone Carter



2023


QB Kenny Pickett / Mitch Trubiscky

RB Najee Harris / Jaylen Warren / Anthony McFarland

TE Pat Friermuth / Darnell Washington / Zach Gentry


WR Diontae Johnson

WR George Pickens

WR Allen Robinson


LT Broderick Jones

LG Isaac Seumalo

C Mason Cole

RG James Daniels

RT Chukwuma Okorafor


K Chris Boswell

P Presley Harvin


OLB/Edge – TJ Watt

OLB/Edge – Alex Highsmith / Nick Herbig

LB- Cole Holcomb

LB – Elandon Roberts / Mark Robinson


DL – Cam Heyward / Demarvin Leal

DL – Larry Ogunjobi / Keanu Benton

NT – Keanu Benton / Breiden Fehoko


CB – Patrick Peterson / Cory Trice

CB – Joey Porter Jr / Levi Wallace

SS – Damontae Kazee / Keanu Neal

FS – Minkah Fitzpatrick


In looking at these comparisons I don’t think we are as far off as many think we may be. One thing of interest is comparing Picket to Big Ben in their first year, Ben had significantly less pass attempts and completions compared to Pickett.

My comparisons below:

1. We were obviously a smash mouth offense back then.
2. We were successful at it and we had the offensive line and the defense to support.

Who you look at todays roster I believe we are definitely stronger in some areas such as


I believe the running backs we have now are better than 2005. We had more depth in 2005 and Willie was a burner but Bettis was old and Stale got injured after the first few games.

Our WR’s today I believe are better or defeintaly have a higher upside. It is hard to quantify what Hines Ward brought to the table though because he was such a tone setter.

TE’s are better today. I believe Heath and Friermuth are nearly a wash with Heath having and edge at blocking, however with the upside of Washington it puts this TE group over the other group.

OL was better in 2005 however this new group potentially has a higher upside. I think that group was more established and it had a HOF’er on it.

Defensive Line - The 2005 group was established and it had depth. Although we have Heyward the 2005 group was better.

Edge -he 2005 group was really good and had better depth than we do today but from a starter perspective I definitely give the edge to todays group.

CB’s - I will give the edge to 2005 with 2023 having a higher upside and potential to be dominant.

Safeties - I would say it is a wash when you factor in an All Pro in 2005 and an All Pro in 2023.

We won that Super Bowl based on Smash Mouth Football and a high pedigree defense. Ben was special but he wasn’t slinging the ball all over the place back then and Ben still had the propensity to turn the ball over as we saw through out his career.

To me if this draft pans out and Broderick Jones and Seumalo take this Offensive line unto great then I can see us mimicking a lot of the success we had back in 2005. Adding Washington is just the cherry on top.

For the defense to be as good as it was in 2005 we will really need Porter and Benton to step up as well as our free agent ILB’s. I believe they can.

 

we we cannot measure is Leadership, and that is where we are failing, IMO. Players are one thing, coaching is the other half to success. We had LeBeau and a talented OC , then.

Yes, we need Top 5 defensive play from this group. a D that keeps teams at 20 points or below. or shall I say, can SHUT DOWN elite teams. not sure we have that.

and I am not sure yet what Kenny is or is not. Ben was special. He was an idiot at times, but a special talent. With HOF talent around him on offense. Kenny does not have that right now (I don't think....)

Let's play the games!!!

 

2005 roster was an experienced, proven team only a few months removed from an AFC Championship. Only big offseason loss was Plaxico Burress.

2023 roster is unproven, with potential....but not even a playoff team in 2022. Big difference.

 

Good point about the leaders and coaching. We had Bettis and Ward on Offense and Porter on Defense. We had some special coaches back then as well. I believe Pickett and Najee are developing into leaders we shall see.

When you look at the twp teams the biggest dffference from a talent standpoint is the 2005 unit was definitely stronger up the middle on defense. I believe this years Offensive line can be better than unit if everyone pans out and the rookie develops.

Weapons wise I believe the 23 Team has more weapons. :looking at that Canada really does not have any excuses. It really is going to come down Canada and how Pickett has developed regarding the offense.

 

agreed. If Pickett and Pickens and Najee cannot become dominant or one of the top trio's, then something is broken.

 

Did we kick witherspoon?

I really like this team. Only area I'm not feeling is Boswell, due to last year.

 

Its all about the unknowns. This defense could potentially be better against the pass. It appears to have more upside. I doubt we will ever duplicate the success of that run defense without dedicating a NT full time.

 

I am still a little nervous at Slot Corner and ILB.

 

Also worth remembering that 2005 team were in danger of missing the playoffs, and got hot at just the right time. They were a great team but they took the hard route…

 

I forgot about Witherspoon. It will honestly probably come down him, Trice and Pierre. I would think if all equal they will probably go with the cheaper option.

 

Trice is not going to out do spoon. He sucked at tackling.

 

That isn’t exactly Spoons strong suite either.

 

College weakness vs nfl meh. Trice needs a lot of work.

 

Well hopefully his coverage skills are so good he won’t need to tackle. Funny you mention Witherspoon though because they seem to have a lot of similarities. Both Tall, good coverage CB’s who can’t tackle and are injury prone. Hopefully one of them balls out in training camp and stays healthy enough to be a solid contributor this year.

 

A better comparison should have been between this team and last years team. We essentially upgraded on paper nearly every weakness with the exception of slot corner. I hope they have a plan for slot corner.

 

The 2023 Steelers are closer to the 1971 team then the 2005 team. Prior to the 1972 season, the Steelers had showed improvement from 1-13, to 5-9, to 6-8. They played the Cowboys the defending champs in the fourth game of the season at Dallas and almost beat them with terrible QB play, losing 17-13. They went on to win 9 of their last ten. The past two years the Steelers have been competitive while rebuilding on the fly. We will see if the IFs become star players. The 1972 Steelers were younger than many on the 2023 roster.

 

He got married, then had issues with his groin. I'm not saying is was related, but the honeymoon is likely over now..he should be back on track.

 

Also most of the players on the 2005 team had playoff experience from '01, '02 & '04. Many of the players on the '23 team have ZERO playoff experience.

 

I've seen Trice projected to go anywhere from mid-3 to 4/5. Sports Illustrated ranked him going in round 4. NFL.com had Trice projected in going in round 4/5. I'm really hoping Steelers hit with him. Here's the Steelers DB coach thoughts..

https://www.steelers.com/news/steelers-select-cory-trice-jr-in-the-seventh-round

The Steelers selected Purdue defensive back Cory Trice Jr. in the seventh round of the 2023 NFL Draft, the 241st overall selection.

"He played a lot of press coverage and that's huge," said secondary coach Grady Brown. "Just the way that he plays press, being able to go down and not play a motor technique, not back up, really just use that frame to just take up a lot of space and make guys work on the line of scrimmage.

"Really excited about getting him in here. He has some toughness. He started his career off as a safety. A high school basketball player. So just a lot of good things just from a coaching standpoint to work with and we're looking forward to getting him in here."

 

Look at that 2005 roster, loaded with HOFers!

 

You’re comparing 2005 -2022, but the 2022 team isn’t even finalized yet? The new draft picks haven’t even signed yet let alone make it through training camp.

 

He dropped because of that reason. I don't get into projections unless it's a top 40. After that it's just random articles that can't back it up why they say the things they do.

 

Or maybe the 74 team where we essentially solidified the roster with an amazing draft. Perhaps this is our 74 draft. Lets hope.

 

I am comparing from the perspective of a bench mark. I am not saying this team is better than 2005.