While the Steelers made their investments during the draft and minor acquisitions in free agency, their AFC North rivals in Baltimore also made several moves during the offseason.
The Ravens were one Antonio Brown arm-extension away from having a shot to win the AFC North and make the playoffs last season. So both they and the Steelers know there is a chance that with the right additions, Baltimore could take back the division.
The Ravens may have lost older veteran contributors like Steve Smith and Elvis Dumervil, but they made quick work of finding suitable replacements at each of their positions both for the immediate case and the long term.
Here, we take a look at their key draft picks and biggest free-agent acquisition:
MARLON HUMPHREY
The Ravens' first-round pick addressed cornerback when they went after Marlon Humphrey from Alabama.
Humphrey was a highly sought after player because of the natural athleticism he brought to the position. His 6-foot height and 197 pounds made for a solid frame to place outside the numbers and guard stronger receivers. Mixed with his ability to jam at the line of scrimmage, his attributes made him a universal pick for any system.
What put Humphrey on everyone's map, though, was his insane ability to change direction and make up for being shook in the field by a wide receiver. Plenty of his passes defensed came from him being in one spot in a moment and making a crazy adjustment the next.
Watch how he plays this zone coverage here and reads the eyes of the quarterback. He sits back into his backpedal, then breaks on the ball quickly enough so that he can set his feet and make a play on the ball:
What Humphrey lacks is the consistent fundamental footwork needed from a cornerback. He often will get his feet tangled up and or get his body leaning in a bad position. He also can lose track of the ball when he's not in perfect position and trying to make a play on a jump ball.
That shouldn't worry the Ravens too much, as they have seen steady progression from their young cornerbacks over the years. But if Humphrey were to catch on, it should worry the Steelers, as the Ravens' top cornerback in Jimmy Smith has been a troubling factor in recent seasons.
Humphrey and Smith together would make for an intriguing semiannual matchup with the Steelers' star-studded receiving corps.
TYUS BOWSER
The decision to release veteran pass rusher Dumervil was quickly followed by a solid investment in a pass rushing outside linebacker in the form of Tyus Bowser from Houston.
Bowser was an intriguing prospect in the draft because he was proficient at working from multiple spots as a linebacker. He has the athleticism to be either an inside linebacker plugging holes and playing in coverage or outside linebacker bringing pressure and containing the run.
What I saw on tape of Bowser was that he was how fluid he was at any linebacker position he played in Houston's defense. In his senior year he primarily played at outside linebacker but still could be placed in the interior and not be a liability.
Each time Bowser was moved somewhere else, he looked as if he completely understood his role and what he needed to do for his team to succeed. He was a jack of all trades, and while it would be unfair to say he was a master of none, he still lacks the premier pass rush moves that can dominate the better offensive tackles he'll have to face.
His effort, however, is always apparent when he plays. He will fight through blockers and explode into gaps in order to force his opponent to commit hard to blocking him.
Watch below how he comes from the outside and is quick enough to stunt across the face of the left tackle and gain leverage to get in the backfield to force a fumble:
The quick feet he puts on display is what jumped off the screen to me. If you watch closely when he is about to engage the tackle, he uses a jab step to the outside to freeze the lineman for just a moment, and then quickly accelerates into the B-gap, using his hands to keep his body from being impeded by the larger tackle in front of him.
Stuff like that shows raw talent and creativity when it comes to making plays. But Bowser wasn't a first-round pick in the draft because he didn't check off enough of the boxes of what teams want in a premier pass rusher. To be direct, he didn't have a grasp on the fundamental pass rush moves that scouts look for in 3-4 edge rushers.
Often you saw Bowser's success come as a result from hustle and athleticism rather than refined skill at beating his man around the edge consistently. The fear which that brings up in scouts is that at the NFL level, pass rushers need to have moves that they can rely upon to consistently bully and push around opponents. A prime example would be how James Harrison has been destroying opponents with a solid rip technique for a decade now, or how Von Miller defies normal logic with his spin move or any of the other techniques he puts on display.
None of that means that Bower won't be a threat, he will have Terrell Suggs to learn under and be in an organization that has done very well with linebackers since its re-branding as the Ravens. At this point Bowser is expected to be an edge rusher for the Ravens, but don't be surprised if you see him lining up all around the box in a few seasons.
TIM WILLIAMS
The Ravens' next selection was at the same position as Bowser, but the complete opposite when it came to his scouting profile. Tim Williams was an edge rushing specialist for Alabama in 2016 and had the look on tape of a prospect that could be a true terror in the backfield at the NFL level.
But suspensions, gun charges and questions of his issues off the field lowered his stock and he went from being a prospect with late first-round potential to being the Ravens' third=round pick.
So how is Williams so different than Bowser?
Because those moves that you don't see on Bowser's tape, you see all over Williams' when he worked in the SEC. I saw natural edge rushing moves, from rips to swims and other techniques in several games during his senior year.
Here's an example of a great swim move to the inside by Williams against Kentucky:
Normally I see swim moves used to gain leverage to the outside and work around a tackle, but Williams starts by using his inside hand as a measuring stick to gauge his opponent and then simultaneously crossing his face while bringing his outside hand over the shoulder pads of his opponent.
If you followed our pre-draft coverage, we covered Williams in depth here, but you'll remember he was high on my radar for potential pass rushers the Steelers could seek out.
Unfortunately for Williams, his differences with Bowser also stem into his flexibility at linebacker. Rumors speculated as to Williams' ability to comprehend the full concepts of the Alabama defense as a reason why he was subbed out as often as he was for Ryan Anderson.
Williams looked in his zone when asked to rush the passer and even when he faced a conventional run play, but questions remain on how well all that will translate when he has to learn an NFL system and adapt to a different skill level.
Either way, the Ravens made sure to double-dip into the edge rusher talent pool in hopes to find a definitive replacement for Dumervil, and maybe Suggs soon, to bring pressure on quarterbacks like Ben Roethlisberger. How quickly they develop and how high their ceiling will be are questions that will be interesting to keep an eye on over the 2017 season.
JEREMY MACLIN
A move with more immediate impact, however, was the Ravens' decision to sign receiver Jeremy Maclin in free agency. Maclin was the best receiver on the Chiefs for the past two seasons after starting his career with the Eagles.
He developed a reputation as a fast route runner with solid hands that could beat opponents deep but also work over the middle and with underneath routes. His best season was in 2014 with the Eagles when he recorded over 1,300 yards and 10 touchdowns. But with the Chiefs and their quarterback, Alex Smith, Maclin's dual-threat capability was somewhat limited to their short passing offense.
He managed to gain over 1,000 yards in his first year with the Chiefs and score eight touchdowns, but last season he was made almost completely irrelevant as a highly-paid receiver when he only gained 536 yards and scored twice over a course of 12 games.
My readout of the question is to why he had such a sharp drop-off was more because of the system he played in than his skills not being as effective. He also suffered injuries, but over a span of 12 games I still expected to see more from him.
In the Ravens offense, Maclin could be a big problem for opposing secondaries. Whether given space or pressed, Maclin showed the ability to get loose in open field and make catches in tight spaces. Add the threat of the deep ball back to the possibilities his opposing cornerbacks have to consider as a threat, thanks to the arm of Joe Flacco, and you put him back in his element.
Watch how he works against veteran cornerback Jason Verrett at the top of the screen on the play below. Once he comes out of his break, Maclin uses a jab step to set up his route and then takes off to the outside, forcing Verrett to stay in front of him but also on his inside shoulder. This opens up space for Smith to fit the ball into a tight window for a back-shoulder pass:
Just because Maclin had an off year in 2016 does not mean he shouldn't be taken seriously in 2017. The Ravens immediately replaced their retired veteran, Steve Smith, with a faster receiver who is in his prime and a viable threat at any point on the field.
Adding to their already speedy receiving corps with Breshad Perriman and Mike Wallace, Maclin could be the leading factor and the biggest challenge the Steelers have to face with their secondary when these teams meet twice in 2017, and possibly a third time in 2018.
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