In 2019, the Pittsburgh Steelers leaned heavily on their rookie class. Some guys were draft picks, some UDFA and others were rookies acquired from other teams. But in the big picture how good was this class?

Well according to Nick Shook of NFL.com, the Steelers were good enough for a B+ for their 2019 group. Here’s what he had to say about it.

The Steelers’ trade up to select Bush was worth it, proven by his fine rookie play. Bush recorded 109 tackles, four passes defended, two interceptions and a forced fumble. He’s a stud. A+ for that. The third round provided some value to Pittsburgh in the form of Johnson, who saw additional playing time due to JuJu Smith-Schuster’s injury issues and caught 59 passes for 680 yards and five touchdowns. It’ll be interesting to see if he makes a bigger leap in his second season with Ben Roethlisberger back under center. Layne projected to perhaps answer the Steelers’ long-running question at cornerback, but he didn’t play a defensive snap in 2019, spending his entire time on special teams. Snell, however, flirted with a 4-yards-per-carry average on his 108 attempts, gaining 426 yards and making two trips to the end zone. He’s a worthy backup to James Conner. Gentry saw very little action and caught just one pass in 2019. Smith is now with the Seahawks. Buggs made an occasional rotational contribution, and Gilbert spent his season on special teams. Gray spent 2019 on the practice squad and was signed to a futures contract. The undrafted Hodges initially arose from afterthought who’d beaten out Joshua Dobbs for a roster spot to the symbol of hope for Pittsburgh, though his struggles down the stretch contributed to the Steelers missing the playoffs for a second straight season.

I’m not sure what constitutes an A for the author but Steelers fans understand how special this group can be. This is particularly true for Devin Bush, Diontae Johnson and Benny Snell. All three were huge contributors this season and give the Steelers high hopes they can be the core of this team in the future.