PFF has collected football data since the 2006 NFL season. That allows us to look back at almost two decades of grades and numbers and pick out the best seasons at each position.

Here are the top players at each position for the Pittsburgh Steelers in that span, and some key takeaways from the

It has been all about Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback for the Steelers in the PFF era. He earned a PFF overall grade above 80.0 in nine of the 12 seasons between 2007 and 2018. He struggled in the final three years of his career, but the team has yet to have a quarterback break that 80.0 PFF grade mark since his retirement. Pittsburgh will hope to have fixed the position with the acquisitions of Russell Wilson and Justin Fields this offseason.

Antonio Brown will likely be remembered for how his career ended, but in his prime he looked like a certain future Hall-of-Famer. Between 2013 and 2017, Brown’s 94.5 PFF receiving grade trailed, barely, only Julio Jones of the Atlanta Falcons. Brown also averaged 2.65 yards per route run in that span, again trailing only Jones.

The most surprising “omission” on defense was James Harrison’s 2008 Defensive Player of the Year campaign. His 59.2 PFF run-defense grade that year dented his overall grade slightly, though he still led all edge defenders with an 86.6 PFF overall grade that season and his 91.3 PFF pass-rush grade was the best of all defenders.

Harrison’s 2008 season overall does trump’s 2023 campaign despite the poor run-defense grade, and he also owns five of the top-10 seasons for the Steelers at the position in terms of PFF grade, more than any other player on the team.