Offense 

The conversation around this Steelers offense really has to start with the new addition at QBwith Aaron Rodgers. While the name may outweigh the talent at this point in Rodgers career it’s hard to argue that he’s not a better QB or won’t have more success here than the guys they had in this room last season with Justin Fields and Russell Wilson. Now there’s a whole other piece with Rodgers from a off the field perspective but considering the history HC Mike Tomlin has with keeping everything along those line buttoned up and in the building I can’t say I’m particularly worried about that becoming an issue, at least not as much compared to if Rodgers had signed somewhere else. Tomlin has dealt and kept guys like Antonio Brown, Le’Veon Bell, and countless others including his starting QB last season with Russell Wilson and his camp in check and on their best behavior for years now and to be fair to Rodgers his “off the field concerns” are far less worrisome than others. There’s also a worry of injury at this point in Rodgers career and that’s where the depth of this room comes into play. You have Mason Rudolph who has familiarity playing with this franchise throughout his rookie contract and while he may not be a starter in this league he can be a serviceable backup and then you go and add Will Howard (OSU) through the draft who has a great head on his shoulders, plays with effort, is a great teammate from all accounts, and has some interesting traits that may be able to land him a starting spot one day but more than likely will at least get him a job for a long time as a solid backup for a team.

The next biggest piece for this offense to succeed and ties directly to Rodgers and his level of success this is year is this OL room. You have a ton of young promising talent along the starting five for this team with Broderick Jones at LT who has struggled at times through his young career but has also been tasked with a number changes between LT and RT and now that he’s settled in as the true starter at LT I expect him to take a step forward, Zah Frazier at C who had a phenomal rookie for them last season and looks to be one of the better young Cs in the league, Mason McCormick at RG who was one of my favorite OL prospects coming out in the 24’ draft and has flexibility to play G or C for you, and Troy Fautanu at RT who suffered an injury (dislocated kneecap) that forced him to miss all but one game of his rookie year but looked great coming out of college and really impressed in camp for them. Overall this young group of guys looks to be one of the most promising OL rooms in the league and while there’s some variance that is a bit scary considering you have a 41yr old starter at QB I believe in the talent of these guys and trust this coaching staff to have them ready to go and tied together as one of the top 10 or so lines in the league. And not to mention they have a vet in the room to help these young guys along in Isaac Seumalo at RG who may not be an all pro year in year out but is a steady starter for you that you can set at the RG position and trust him to succeed there. 

The WR room for this team went through some obvious changes with them trading for DK Metcalf and in turn trading George Pickens to the Cowboys and I absolutely love this move for them. While Pickens may have some flashy catches throughout the year and is a solid X he has some obvious concerns of maturity and while Metcalf may not being the pinnacle of maturity he’s certainly farther along in that category than Pickens. Metcalf certainly shows frustration when not being targeted or when he becomes uninvolved in the offense but Pickens seemingly looses and finds interest through each and every play and in turn leads to lackluster route running, blocking, and a overall lack of effort on the game along with crucial penalties that set your team back when he’s upset with someone else on the other team. Along with the Metcalf addition you bring in a solid vet in Robert Woods who may not have a huge impact on the game from a production standpoint but he always blocks well and contributes as a locker/leadership player for you. I would also keep an eye on Roman Wilson who struggled to stay healthy during his rookie year but showed flashes in camp and looked like a promising rookie coming out of Michigan. Ultimately I like this room and what they look like on paper but they definitely need someone like Roman Wilson or Calvin Austin III to step up and be the next option after Metcalf. They do have some depth vets as well that should help fill out the room like Robert Woods and Ben Skowronek who should fit into this Arthur Smith run offense smoothly.

This RB room is one of the deepest in the league in my opinion. Between retaining Jaylen Warren and keeping his explosiveness in the backfield and adding Kenneth Gainwell through FA you have a really solid one two punch of well rounded high effort backs. What really makes this room stand out though is their 3rd round pick in Kaleb Johnson (Iowa). While I’m not saying Johnson is going to be Derrick Henry by any means I believe he will build his way into the role over the course of this season that that Henry had in Tennessee under Arthur Smith. Johnson is a big physical back  (6’1 224 combine 6’0 234 pro day) and while he lacks the top end speed of someone like Henry he’s an incredible zone runner who shines in outside zone/toss plays and because of his great eyes and ability to stay light on his feet despite his size he times cutbacks perfectly which fits absolutely perfectly in this offense. Johnson also has developed as a pass blocker and I believe will continue to get better and better throughout his career in that aspect, he has solid hands and overall is really solid in the screen game, and one of my favorite parts of his game is his ability to stay fresh throughout the game and make defenses feel his presence more and more as the game goes on. This group has everything you could ask for one through three on the depth chart along with a solid vet special teamer in Cordalle Patterson. 

Defense 

As far as this defense goes the conversation for the Steelers always starts with the front seven. This organization continues to build one of if not the most talented front seven groups year after year and that trend didn’t change this offseason. Already having a great group of guys here (Keeanu Benton, Cam Heyward, Isaiahh Loudermilk, DeMarvin Leal, Patrick Queen, Payton Wilson, TJ Watt, Nick Herbig, Alex Highsmith) from last season they added three picks in the first 5 rounds into that group as well. Those picks being Derrick Harmon (Oregon) in the 1st Round, Jack Sawyer (OSU) in the 4th Round, and Yahya Black (Iowa) in the 5th Round. Black being a big hulking NT out of Iowa with a huge frame (6’5 336 with 35in arms) and while he lacks some development in pad level and pass rush moves he will certainly be able to hold up in run defense with his arm length and overall size in the middle. Sawyer in my opinion was overlooked and fell too far in the the draft, he’s a great locker room presence from all accounts and was a leader for the Buckeyes DL group and as far as his play on the field goes he’ll fit right into this edge group for the Steelers as another high effort powerful edge that will hold up in run defense and shows a real attitude and mean streak when rushing the passer. Then we get to Derrick Harmon and man was this a great pick in my opinion. Harmon is great athlete for his size, he holds his own verse the run and his ability to shoot past IOLs at the speed that he does is absolutely unreal. Harmon may be a little raw still and needs some refinement as far as planning his pass rushing plan goes there really no better situation in the league to learn and development than behind Cam Hayward and the rest of this awesome front seven. This group continues to add to this front seven year after year and it continues to be the reason they keep every game competitive. Whether it’s Highsmith and Watt off the edge and the depth behind them, the IDLroom with Benton, Heyward, and now Black and Harmon along with the depth there, and even the LBs with Wilson and Queen there’s just talent everywhere along this front seven and once again the Steelers will have one of the most dominant groupings in the league. 

• I forgot to mention Carson Bruener (Washington) out of Washington and while I don’t expect the 7th Round pick to have some huge impact in year one he is a great athlete at LBand very high character player will almost certainly be a fan favorite on special teams early on and has a chance to be a rotational guy down the road as well. 

As for the secondary behind this great front seven there’s just about as much talent here as there is there. While it’s not as certain in some spots the play they’ll get out of these guys it’s hard to argue this won’t be a top end group in the league. Between your true number one CB in Joey Porter Jr, the new vet addition opposite of him Darius Slay, and your second year standout rookie nickel in Beanie Bishop Jr you have a really solid CB trio there. Not to mention the depth they had/brought in with Brandin Echols, James Pierre, and while he’s really struggled injuries throughout college and the pros a very promising Cory Trice Jr. You then look at the S position and you have one of the best S in the league with Minkah Fitzpatrick and a really solid “number 2” in DeShon Elliot along with depth in Miles Killebrew for mainly special teams and more so at Swith Juan Thornhill. Overall this secondary is very impressive and it’s hard to argue between coaching, the talent here, and especially the front seven in front of them that this group won’t be one of the better groups in the league.

Overview 

• This Steelers team certainly has some question marks between Rodgers and everything that comes along with him and some questions mainly along the offense overall but if they get even a competent year out Rodgers and this offense I’m not sure there’s any teams that would look forward to facing them. They need to lean on this run game, the OL needs to stay healthy and develop a bit, and they need Rodgers to manage games but still be aggressive when called upon which he’s struggled to do over the past 2 seasons of him playing. Aside from the offense there’s not much else to say because this coaching staff and defense is absolutely awesome, they have solid starters all across the board with some really special Pro Bowl and/or All Pro type talents sprinkled in along with depth at just about every position on that side of the ball. The question for this team ultimately comes down to what it has ever since Ben Roethlisberger started to slow down in his career, can they get solid QB play that will keep their passing game at least average through the playoffs so that they can lean on their advantages of a special defense, great coaching, and a really good run game to win down the stretch. I think this Steelers team has a better chance of doing just that than any team they’ve had for the last half decade or so but there’s also a number of gambles that they’ve taken that could potentially lead them in the opposite direction if they’re not careful. I think this team ends up as 10 or so win team that has a better chance in the playoffs than last season but in the end comes up short and counties the search for their franchise guy at that oh so elusive QB position.

June 30, 2025 – Update 

With the addition of Jalen Ramsey and in turn the loss of Minkah Fitzpatrick this defense from a outside view seemed to be making a lateral move but in my opinion I think they actually made a pretty significant upgrade to their secondary. While I’m not trying to downplay the impact Minkah has had in his stint with Pittsburgh I do believe he took a step back last year and the difference between him and the S opposite of him in DeShon Elliot was not all that different. I believe between Juan Thornhill and DeShon Elliot Pittsburgh will be fine at S and while Minkah would be an upgrade over arguably both of them the difference Jalen Ramsey as NB and even as an outside CB, if they need him there, will be far more impactful than what Minkah would bring to this defense. Ramsey brings even more of an edge and attitude to this defense that will certainly make it that much more annoying playing these guys on Sunday. Along with the attitude and edge Jalen is still one of the better CBs in the entire league despite his age and I think he’ll be even better playing in the slot with Slay and Porter Jr on the outside. It once again doubles down on the veteran talent Pittsburgh seems to be rolling with and while you can criticize that all you want it certainly puts their ceiling higher than it was last year. Does that mean it will result in any better results? No, at this point in this regime it seems like they may have to start taking some chances.