As the season gets closer, a picture starts to get painted as to how the season is going to go. Ed Bouchette of the Post-Gazette was in Latrobe and released a plethora of notes he made while watching the Steelers. Bouchette, who has covered the Steelers since 1985 made a bold prediction regarding where two of the Steelers defensive lineman will go down in history.

He wrote,

Cam Heyward and Stephon Tuitt have a chance to be the best one-two combo at defensive end in the Steelers’ 35-year history of playing the 3-4, not long after the previous best duo were Aaron Smith and Brett Keisel.

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That is a mighty bold call when thinking about how important the two linemen were in recent Steeler history. Smith started from 2000-2008, only missing six games in that span before injuries had him in and out of the lineup from 2009 through his retirement in 2011. Still, Smith did enough to be named to the 2000’s All-Decade team and he has two Super Bowl rings. Keisel came on a bit later and did not start the 2006 season. Still, he played through 2013, has both the Steelers recent Super Bowl wins, and is a fan favorite.

It would be tough to make the claim that Bouchette is making with just any lineman, but Heyward and Tuitt are special. To start, both have the pedigree. Tuitt being a second-rounder from Notre Dame and Heyward going in the first round out of Ohio State show that these two have all of the physical talents needed to be great. While in the NFL, draft position is thrown out quickly by what you can do on the field, Smith taken in the fourth round and Keisel in the seventh gives the new blood a talent advantage from the start.

Also, in terms of production, both Heyward and Tuitt put up more sacks last season than Keisel’s career high number. Smith has a career-high of eight, and Heyward put up seven and 7.5 in the last two years respectively, while Tuitt put up 6.5 in his first year as a starter.

While Heyward and Tuitt have not passed Smith and Keisel yet, they are on the right path. These players are versatile, they are productive and they have a high pedigree which gives them an awfully high ceiling. So what do you think, when all is said and done will Tuitt and Heyward be a better combination than Smith and Keisel?