Team president Art Rooney II hasn't yet had his annual state of the Steelers address. That will be happening presumably in the coming weeks.
But one thing you can be sure he'll address -- once again -- is the team's complete and utter lack of a running game.
The Steelers ranked dead last in yards per game rushing and yards per attempt average in 2020. This after Rooney specifically stated a year ago at this time that, "I would like to see us be a team that can be more consistent running the football. I think that has to be a part of the game."
Instead of getting better in 2020, the Steelers actually got worse, falling from 29th in rushing to dead last at just 84.4 yards per game, the lowest in team history in a 16-game season.
That failure more than anything else is why offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner and offensive line coach Shaun Sarrett were not retained at the conclusion of the season.
The Steelers' plan for fixing their running game in 2020 included adding no additional players that might help make that change. Their plan for doing so in 2021 won't take that route.
Left tackle Alejandro Villanueva and left guard Matt Feiler -- who had lined up at right tackle in 2019 -- are going to be unrestricted free agents. So, too, will lead running back James Conner. And center Maurkice Pouncey might also retire.
Those departures or potential departures could leave some big holes. But the Steelers could use it as an opportunity to reinvent their line.
The Steelers would like to re-sign another of their potential free agents -- tackle Zach Banner -- which would give them a returning line of Banner and Chuks Okorafor at tackle, veteran David DeCastro and 2020 rookie Kevin Dotson at guard and a hole at center that would likely have to be filled in the draft. Signing a starting center given the team's salary cap issues is unlikely.
The team also will likely target an offensive tackle in the draft, as well, giving them some additional competition and flexibility.
The Steelers also will have to find a blocking tight end after Vance McDonald announced his retirement Friday. That leaves the Steelers with Eric Ebron, Zach Gentry and Kevin Rader as its top three returning tight ends, though the team also signed tight ends Dax Raymond and Charles Jones -- a pair of blocking tight ends -- to futures contracts this week.
Fixing the running back room might be a little more complicated.
With Conner headed toward free agency, the Steelers might not have a lead running back on their roster. Conner rushed for a team-high 723 yards this season, nearly double that of No. 2 back Benny Snell, who had 368 yards rushing.
More telling is that Conner averaged 4.3 yards per carry, well above the team's NFL-low average of 3.6 yards per attempt. Snell averaged 3.3 yards per attempt, rookie Anthony McFarland 3.4 yards and Jaylen Samuels 3.1.
Simply bringing back that group isn't likely to change the team's fortunes running the ball.
The Steelers have used mid-round draft picks on running backs in recent years in an attempt to bolster the position. Conner was a third-round pick in 2017, while Samuels was a fifth-round selection in 2018. Snell and McFarland were both fourth-round picks in 2019 and 2020, respectively.
The Steelers haven't had a 1,000-yard rusher since Le'Veon Bell ran for 1,271 yards in 2017. The Steelers haven't gone four-straight seasons without a 1,000-yard rusher since doing so from 1984 through 1991, the final eight seasons of Chuck Noll's tenure as head coach.
Bell was a second-round draft pick in 2013. That's the highest the Steelers selected a running back since taking Rashard Mendenhall in the first round in 2008. Not coincidentally, Bell and Mendenhall have accounted for the last five 1,000-yard seasons for the Steelers.
Does that mean the Steelers need to take a running back in the first or second rounds of this year's draft? Not necessarily. In the last five drafts, only eight running backs have been taken in the first round, including just one last season, when the Chiefs selected Clyde Edwards-Helaire with the last pick of the first round.
But the Steelers do need to look at perhaps improving their running back room with not only a draft pick but also by perhaps adding a veteran to the group. One of the team's failings in 2020 was overestimating what it had on the roster behind Conner and not adding a more established veteran to the group.
With a potential free agent running back market that includes the Packers' Aaron Jones, Cardinals' Kenyan Drake, Bucs' Leonard Fournette, Chris Carson of the Seahawks and Phillip Lindsay of the Broncos, Conner's market might not be that robust. If the Steelers can bring him back as their No. 2 back while adding a starter in the draft, that might help bolster that part of the running game.
None of that will be easy with the team dealing with a tight salary cap. But it can be done.
Rooney is likely -- once again -- to insist on it. And if that doesn't happen, more changes will be made.
Nobody is expecting the Steelers to suddenly rank in the top half of the league in rushing. But if it can get to the middle of the pack, it will be a vast improvement.
"It’s an important component I think in terms of being able to play at the level we want to play at in a place like Pittsburgh," he said last year. "I think running the ball is a factor – it should be."