Tim Benz: Holes on Steelers roster only outnumbered by questions about how to patch them

The latest Steelers free-agent departure is reserve outside linebacker Ola Adeniyi. Like fellow pass rusher Bud Dupree, he went to the Tennessee Titans.

Of all the offseason defections thus far, Adeniyi’s pinch will probably be felt the least. He only participated in 14% of the defensive snaps. His 63% of special teams snaps will likely be offset by newly acquired Miles Killebrew, formerly of the Detroit Lions.

Although, of the top four players at the outside linebacker position, Adeniyi is the second to leave. Mike Hilton is off to Cincinnati and Steven Nelson is about to be traded or released to save cap space. So that’s two cornerbacks on the way out.

Leading rusher James Conner appears destined for a change of scenery and starting nose tackle Tyson Alualu is returning to Jacksonville.

Vince Williams was cut and Avery Williamson probably won’t be back. So that’s minus-two at the inside linebacker position.

Center Maurkice Pouncey and tight end Vance McDonald retired. Alejandro Villanueva is still sitting on the free-agent market unsigned while Matt Feiler inked a big deal with the Los Angeles Chargers. That’s three out of five starting offensive linemen from the opening night of last season, along with the team’s best blocking tight end.

So if you’re scoring at home, that’s four position groups with multiple holes — outside linebacker, inside linebacker, tackle and cornerback. And it’s eight top-of-the-depth-chart players who probably won’t be back.

To date, Killebrew and former Tampa Bay Buccaneers guard/tackle Joe Haeg are the only new faces. Killebrew can probably help the depth at inside linebacker, as well as absorb Adeniyi’s special teams job. Haeg can be the swing tackle that Chuks Okorafor or Zach Banner would’ve been if those two hadn’t been elevated to starting tackles.

Also, guard/center B.J. Finney has returned — after failing to latch on in Seattle and Cincinnati last year — to be either Pouncey’s replacement or the backup to last year’s backup, J.C. Hassenauer.

How many rounds is the draft again? Twenty? Can the Steelers repeat what they did in 1974? That might have to be the case.

Granted, free agency isn’t done. The Steelers can still slap some Bondo on the holes of their rusting outer body. Maybe some improvements can be made as other teams shed veterans late in training camp.

However, given that the Nelson move is indicative that the Steelers are still needing to massage the salary cap, we shouldn’t count on any truly impactful players suiting up in black and gold until the draft.

Hopefully.

Even if you are the most optimistic supporter of the team — one who insists that the undefeated start to 2020 was a legitimate representation of the team and not an 11-week mirage — then you have to be concerned that so much of last year’s roster is being subtracted.

And so much of the cavalry is going to have to come from incoming rookies and last year’s bottom-of-the-roster names.

I’m not in that camp. I’m more of the belief that the 1-5 finish to 2020 is closer to what ‘21 is going to look like. After all, we saw plenty of those reserves who must elevate their performance in order to mollify the departure of the starters.

Cameron Sutton appears ready to step up to fill one of the cornerback vacancies. The jury is out on Banner at one of the tackle spots as he comes off of just one start before tearing an ACL last year.

Aside from them, backups at those other positions of need were all varying degrees of … fine. I guess.

Players such as Hassenauer (C), Alex Highsmith (OLB), Justin Layne (CB), Robert Spillane (ILB), Benny Snell (RB), Henry Mondeaux (DL) and Chris Wormley (DL) did little to alarm. But even less to inspire as potential increased contributors for 2021.

And if the 11-0 team was closer to reality, what’s it going to look like this year with all those new pieces in play? Barring a Hall of Fame-caliber draft class in what might be Kevin Colbert’s last selection process as the team’s general manager, I fear the results of the season may be ugly.

Most confounding is the organization’s mixed signals. On the one hand, it decided to bring back Ben Roethlisberger on a reworked deal when they could’ve saved even more by cutting him. They brought back JuJu Smith-Schuster when his free-agency bid failed. They bothered to keep the likes of Wormley and Banner when those jobs could’ve been filled by rookies or younger backups to truly start the rebuilding process.

Now I feel their complicated cap reality has left them in a half-in, half-out netherworld for 2021. They are trying to keep any functional components from 2020’s deteriorating offense, yet they are deconstructing a capable defense.

But as Twitter keeps telling me, I worry too much. And it’s OK because the Steelers always figure it out.

Maybe someday Twitter will figure out that over the last decade this franchise hasn’t done so quite as often as the people care to remember.