Last season, the erosion of the Pittsburgh Steelers‘ secondary continued with a 27th place finish in passing yards allowed out of 32 teams. To make matters worse, the staples in the secondary, cornerback Ike Taylor and strong safety Troy Polamalu both retired following an injury plagued 2014 season.

The only standout for the Steelers’ secondary last season was veteran cornerback, William Gay. The nine-year pro has played all but one season for the black and gold. During the 2014 NFL season, Gay set a personal career high with three interceptions. All three were returned for touchdowns for a league high in interceptions returned for touchdowns.

Looking ahead of to the 2015 NFL season, Gay will be head and best player of the weakest part of the Pittsburgh Steelers team. The team is full of young players backing up struggling veterans. The second starting cornerback position tells this story. Gay’s partner at cornerback will either be a struggling veteran Cortez Allen or second-round draft pick Senquez Golson. Troy Polamalu’s replacement at strong safety again comes down between a thirty-three year old Will Allen or Shamarko Thomas, who had a total of five tackles all of last season. Mike Mitchell, who Pittsburgh signed to a five-year contract before last season, gave a disappointing first impression last season.

Watching Pittsburgh’s secondary this season will be interesting at the least. On the positive side, the team has youth. Only Gay and Allen are in their thirties. Aside from those two and Mike Mitchell, everyone else in the secondary is 25 years old or younger. Still, the most that can be asked of the secondary this season is to just try to do better than 27th in passing. For Pittsburgh’s secondary, William Gay is the only steady hand. Hopefully, he can continue to be a productive and reliable player.

Daniel Johnson is a Beat Writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter. Like him on Facebook. Add him to your network on Google.