5 Pittsburgh Steelers Players with Most to Prove in 2017

Every season presents new challenges to NFL players. Even those with high-priced contracts, seemingly rock-solid job security and scads of top-tier statistics to their names are under considerable pressure to prove they are worthy of a roster spot and of playing time. But some feel that pressure more than others.

For numerous reasons, some players are in serious "prove-it" mode right now. Perhaps they are trying to bounce back from injury. Maybe it's the final year of their contract. Maybe a young player was brought in as competition at their position. Either way, some NFL players simply have more at stake, career-wise, during the 2017 season.

Here are five Pittsburgh Steelers who are under the most pressure to prove themselves on (and also off) the field this year.

CB Senquez Golson

Keith Srakocic/Associated Press

When the Steelers selected Senquez Golson in the second round of the 2015 NFL draft, the team believed they had finally found the ideal ball-hawking slot cornerback they needed to anchor their secondary. Golson, whose collegiate career at Ole Miss included 16 interceptions over four years (and 10 as a senior), had no significant injury history and seemed on the fast track to a starting job in Pittsburgh's defense.

But fate had other plans for him. A shoulder injury suffered during his rookie training camp resulted in surgery and missing out on hitting the field in 2015. Another injury—a Lisfranc foot sprain—cost him all of 2016. Indeed, Golson has yet to participate in a single game, whether regular season or preseason. And now that he's healthy, he needs to make sure he's not out of the Steelers' plans for 2017.

The good news is that, physically, Golson says that he has never felt better and that he is "ready to make some tackles." But he has a long road ahead to earn the starting job in the slot. He'll be battling veteran William Gay, free-agent signing Coty Sensabaugh as well as a pair of rookies, Cameron Sutton and Brian Allen this summer.

And while Golson is optimistic about his ability to bounce back, Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert is taking a more conservative stance, saying in May that, "I worry about a defensive back coming off of a foot injury because you don't know what he's going to be like and we won't know until we get into the OTAs and minicamps."

As long as Golson's health holds, he will be given every shot to compete for a roster spot this summer. Staying healthy, though, is just the first hurdle Golson will have to cross before proving that the Steelers chose wisely back in 2015 and that the pair of injuries were setbacks rather than roadblocks to a productive career.

WR Martavis Bryant

Keith Srakocic/Associated Press

It took a few weeks into Martavis Bryant's rookie season in 2014 for the receiver to take the field for the Steelers, but when he finally did he made a major impact. Though Bryant caught only 26 of the 48 regular-season passes thrown his way, those completions gained 549 yards and eight scores. It seemed as though the Steelers had a star-to-be on their hands; not bad for a fourth-round draft pick.

But 2015 opened on a rocky start for Bryant. He had to sit out of the first four games of the season after violating the NFL's substance-abuse policy. But upon his return, he picked up where he left off a year prior, catching 50 passes for 765 yards and six scores. However, Bryant's off-field issues nearly derailed his career.

Another violation of the substance-abuse policy led to Bryant being suspended for all of the 2016 season. Though reinstated this past April, one more mistake will have him out of the league for good. Bryant, for what it's worth, is keenly aware of this fact and is doing everything he can to keep his past in the past.

In late May, he revealed he has been clean for a year, is being drug tested regularly and understands that this chance is his final one.

But words are one thing; action is what will truly prove that Bryant has changed, recommitted himself to football and will not find himself in trouble again. When on the field, Bryant is a deep threat, field-stretching touchdown-scoring machine who makes the entire Steelers offense better.

When he's not, the Steelers have managed to get by—they made it all the way to the AFC Championship Game last season without him—but it's clear that Pittsburgh would be better off with him than without him.

Further, this is the final year of his contract. Bryant needs to not only prove to be reliable off the field but on it for the Steelers to want to give him a long-term deal in 2018 and a lucrative one, at that. An incident-free, touchdown-rich year is exactly what Bryant needs to prove that he's moving forward.

LB Arthur Moats

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

When the Steelers signed linebacker Arthur Moats as a free agent in 2014, they only envisioned him as a veteran who could provide backup to their cadre of pass-rushers. But Moats made the most out of his then- one-year deal, appearing in all 16 games in 2014, starting nine and totaling four sacks and 23 combined tackles. The performance led the Steelers to give Moats a three-year, $7.5 million contract the following spring.

Since then, Moats has been an integral part of the Steelers defensive front. Though not a consistent starter, he's been a consistent fixture, with 7.5 sacks, 54 combined tackles and five passes defensed over the last two years. But Moats may be more of a bit-part player in 2017, given the emergence of 2015 first-round draft pick Bud Dupree, the addition of T.J. Watt via the draft this year and the continued presence of James Harrison.

With the Steelers angling to get younger at the linebacker positions, it's quite possible that this season will be Moats' last in Pittsburgh. This is the final year of his contract and bringing him back for another two to four years might not be high on their 2018 priority list. Still, Moats can use the opportunities he's afforded this season as a stepping stone for success elsewhere—or as a way to prove to the Steelers that he's a valuable veteran worth keeping for a few more years. 

Moats is 29 years old but is certainly not the picture of a breaking-down veteran in the final years of his career. Quality football is ahead of him, whether or not he plays it for the Steelers. The 2017 season is a chance for Moats to showcase his skills and remain NFL-relevant.

TE Jesse James

Rob Leiter/Getty Images

As a rookie, tight end Jesse James performed understudy duties to then-Steelers starter Heath Miller. James had only two starts in 2015, catching a mere eight passes for 56 yards and a score. But when Miller retired after the season, the door opened for James to see more playing time. 

That door seemed like it wasn't going to stay open for long, though, as the Steelers brought aboard free agent Ladarius Green in 2016, signing him to a four-year, $20 million deal. But Green's lingering ankle issues cost him the beginning of the season while a concussion ended it prematurely. James thus had 13 starts in his second year, and had 39 catches for 338 yards and three scores.

With Green's injury history too much for the Steelers to bear, the team released him earlier this year. The Steelers then did not add a tight end during the draft, a somewhat surprising development given that the Steelers had a clear need and the draft had many talented players at the position. But that only means the team feel confident that James can find success as the team's true No. 1 tight end this year.

James certainly seems capable. Pro Football Focus ranked him 37th-overall at the position for 2016 (and 13th in run blocking). But that won't prevent him from being under the microscope this year. With Green gone and the Steelers taking no major steps to add competition at the position, James' every contribution will be weighed against the moves the Steelers did make or didn't make that led to James being the unchallenged starter.

The third year of an NFL career is as good a time as any for a player to make his big step forward and James should know that pressure all-too-well not long into the start of the season.

CB Ross Cockrell

Scott R. Galvin-USA TODAY Sports

When the Steelers acquired cornerback Ross Cockrell off of waivers after Cockrell was released by the Buffalo Bills in 2015, it was to make up for the loss of rookie Senquez Golson, whose shoulder injury and subsequent surgery would cost him the entire season. Though Cockrell had little time to prepare, he managed to see action in 15 games in his first year with the Steelers (starting seven of them), totaling 44 combined tackles, two interceptions and 11 passes defensed. 

The Steelers saw enough in him to offer Cockrell a one-year contract in 2016, where he proceeded to start all 16 games as an outside corner alongside first William Gay and later Artie Burns. Though he had no interceptions last season, Cockrell led the team with 14 passes defensed and was the team's sixth-leading tackler.

Still, the Steelers weren't yet ready to pull the trigger on a long-term contract for Cockrell, instead preferring to give him a one-year, restricted free-agent tender worth $1.797 million for 2017. This will make the cornerback an unrestricted free agent in 2018, when he's just 26 years old.

Thus, the 2017 season is a particularly important one for Cockrell. He must put his talents on display not only for the team he's spent the most time with over the course of his young career but also for the NFL at large, with the goal being not just a lucrative deal but one that carries with it more security than the one-year contracts he's been playing on for four seasons. 

While Cockrell doesn't seem in any danger of losing his starting job this summer, what he does with that roster status will determine what his professional future holds. Now is Cockrell's best opportunity to get out of the every-year-is-a-contract-year cycle he's been stuck in so far.