September has arrived. Opening day against the Jets is days away. Once again, it’s time for Steel Curtain Rising’s annual, “The case for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2025” column
A few years go I stated this tradition as memorial to my friend, the late, great Ivan Cole. Ivan would publish these columns annually for Behind the Steel Curtain, in the site’s golden age, and later for Rebecca Rollett’s Going Deep with the Steelers.
In penning these columns, I not only try to follow Ivan’s form but also attempt to find his voice. This has given me and hopefully readers a chance to continue to commune with this great Steelers scribe.
T.J. Watt rushes Aaron Rodgers at St. Vincents. Photo Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images, via SI.com
Expectations: Keeping An Eventful Offseason in Context
As we dive in, let’s use Ivan’s own words to establish our level of expectation:
If you’re looking for yet another set of predictions in what is the season of predictions you will be sorely disappointed here. I don’t do predictions, don’t believe in them. I’m sure someone will hit the nail on the head as to how the [2025] season will unfold, and there will be a certain element of skill involved in their assessment, but there will probably be a lot of luck involved as well.
What I attempt to bring to the table are some observations as to how to think about what factors might be key to a positive outcome for the Steelers this season. Specifically, what has to happen (and what has to not happen) in order for the team to, hopefully, make it to the playoffs and have a shot at the world championship.
Any look forward at what’s come must be firmly grounded in and understanding of what has transpired in this eventful off season.
So let’s acknowledge the elephant in the room: The ending to the Steelers 2024 season, which featured 5 straight losses where Pittsburgh got progressively worse left a bitter taste in everyone’s mouth.
7 months later it’s obvious that no one suffered the bitter taste of bile worse than Art Rooney II, Mike Tomlin and Omar Khan. To a man, they promised change. And they’ve delivered.
The Steelers Brain Trust @ St. Vincents. Photo Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports, via Yahoo! Sports
Precise numbers will vary depending on which NFL personnel accounting method you choose, but when the Steelers take the field against the Jets you’ll see that they’ve replaced approximately half of their starters since last year. Deep deeper into the depth chart, and you’ll find even more new faces.
- For some, these changes are already insufficient.
Ever since Ben Roethlisberger injured his elbow, a large contingent of both the fans and the press have called for “ripping off the Band-Aid” and rebuilding the franchise, from the roster to the coaching staff, from scratch. They’ll point to the franchise’s on-going playoff drought as self-evident justification.
To those naysayers I offer this simple factoid:
Since Chris Boswell booted the Steelers to their last victory on that frigid Kansas City night in the wanning days of the Obama administration, the Chicago Bears have drafted 3 quarterbacks in the first round – all of them taken in the top 11, employed 2 general managers and 5 head coaches and enjoyed one winning season.
More importantly, that “coveted” playoff win remains elusive for the Bears too.
Which team would you prefer to root for? I know my answer.
Rebooting on Offense
Quarterback unquestionably remains the most important position in football. Long gone are the days when we remember names like Jim Brown, Eric Dickerson and Barry Sanders without having an inkling as to who their quarterbacks were.
And in this regard the Steelers do deserve their share of criticism for their misfires during the post-Roethlisberger era. But South Side brain trust deserves credit that they’re seldom granted: Despite their errors, the Steelers have avoided squandering an excessive amounts of draft capital or salary cap space on the position.
- Case in point, Aaron Rodgers’ arrival in Pittsburgh.
Like many of you, I was not initially a fan seeing Rogers in Black and Gold. At all. But since he’s signed, he’s both said and done all the right things. We’ve all had cases where we’ve befriended someone who didn’t have the best reputation, and then explained, “…you know he’s not so bad once you get to know him.”
- Thus far that seems to be the case for Steelers Nation and Aaron Rodgers.
The proof will come in what we see on the field. It is hard to say much about that now, given his absence in preseason, but at St. Vincents all indications are that Aaron Rodgers has something left in the tank.
- Behind him we welcome back Mason Rudolph.
Rudolph’s time in Pittsburgh has had more twists and turns, ups and downs than Kennywood’s Phantom’s Revenge. The fact that he was so willing to return I think speaks volumes not only to Rudolph’s character but also of the franchise’s.
We know that Rudolph is a capable number 2 who will respond if and when his name is called. Behind him we have newcomer Skylar Thompson. Everyone expected Thompson to be the odd man out when training camp started, but an injury to 6th round draft pick Will Howard opened the door.
And Thompson took advantage, as once again Mike Tomlin lived up to his credo that when you arrive in Pittsburgh its not about where you came from but what you do.
- Quarterback isn’t the only skill position that saw Omar Khan aggressively renewed this off season.
At running back the Steelers wisely let Najee Harris walk, and have turned to Jaylen Warren who has shown himself to be a capable runner, a willing blocker and an under appreciated receiver.
Jaylen Warren drags Marion Humphrey. Photo Credit: Chaz Palla, Tribune-Review
He also added found Kaleb Johnson in 2025 NFL Draft, based on what we saw in preseason, he should boost the running back’s room, with Super Bowl veteran Kenneth Gainwell rounding out the group.
At wide receiver, the Steelers embraced addition by subtraction by trading talented but troubled George Pickens to Dallas, while replacing him with D.K. Metcalf. To be honest, the Steelers depth behind Metcalf does constitute a risk, particularly if they suffer a serious injury, but last year Calvin Austin proved he’s a legitimate NFL wide receiver, and Roman Wilson had a strong summer after a lost rookie year.
At tight end the Steelers bolstered the depth behind Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington with veteran Jonnu Smith with Swiss Army Knife Connor Heyward rounding out the quartet.
But the most exciting thing about this offense isn’t the individual talent that’s been added, but the potential of what it can do together. When he was Mike Vrabel‘s offensive coordinator, Arthur Smith was described by Steel City Insider scribe Matt C. Steel has running a “Bill Cowher style offense.”
- The 2024 Steelers offense didn’t fit that mold, but it also didn’t have the talent.
But with draft picks Troy Fautanu and Broderick Jones leading the way, don’t be surprised if the 2025 edition of the Steelers offense looks more like its 2005 ancestor than it does its immediate predecessor.
Daring to Be Different on Defense
Doubtlessly, the most disturbing aspect of the late-2025 collapse was the sight of a once-proud Steelers defense getting dominated. Patrick Mahomes humiliated us through the air. Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry imposed their will on the ground.
- Today, Minkah Fitzpatrick has returned to Miami and Jalen Ramsey is in Pittsburgh.
We all saw that coming in the wake of the ridiculing the Ravens inflicted in the, right?
Of course we didn’t. Nor, frankly, did we see it coming during the heat of free agency or the 2025 NFL Draft. But it still happened, proving that Mike Tomlin is, in fact, willing to leave no stone unturned.
- And its obvious that he has no a sacred cows in his locker room.
Raise your hand if you watched Donte Jackson last season and wondered, “What was it that Carolina didn’t like about him?” Mine’s raised. But when he couldn’t sustain his early and mid-season fireworks down the stretch, he was deemed expendable.
The lesson is clear: Just being “Good enough” is not sufficient. Beanie Bishop is another player who flashed in 2024 but is learning that lesson in 2025.
In response to the need for more sheer bulk upfront, the Steelers have double-dipped on the defensive line in the 2025 NFL Draft, bringing Derrick Harmon and Yahya Black to Pittsburgh. Injuries will limit Harmon early, but Black’s preseason resume suggest that we may be able to count on him early than would normally be expected of a 5th round pick.
Yahya Black sacks Bryce Perkins. Photo Credit: AP via Tribune-Review
At outside linebacker the Steelers have future Hall of Famer T.J. Watt with Alex Highsmith bookending him on the other side. Behind them they have Nick Herbig who, with a strong third season could force a difficult decision next spring. Jack Sawyer arrives providing depth – and more bulk – to round out the quartet.
At inside linebacker, knock on wood, the Steelers finally appear to have a room that features 3 starter-capable players along with two quality backups. The Steelers last enjoyed this mix of quality and quality, experience and youth, in 2015 and 2016 – which were not uncoincidentally the last two seasons that included playoff wins.
Just Sayin….
The Future is Now. And Tomorrow
As detailed earlier on this site, watching the yin and yang of the discourse in Steelers Nation has been interesting to say the least. The conventional wisdom has swung from suggesting that the Steelers are executing a tank-lite strategy to declaring that the franchise is “All In.”
- What’s exciting about 2025 is that neither of the two is true.
The Steelers, through deft use of the free agent market, drafting with an eye towards the long term and a duce of bold trades, have assembled a roster that is far better equipped to compete with the AFC titans like the Chiefs, Bills and Ravens.
But they’ve done so in a way that gives them ample salary cap space for heading into 2026 and a projected 11 or 12 picks in the 2026 NFL Draft. We’re seeing “The Steelers Way” evolve in real time, and that should have everyone excited.
Bring on the New York Jets!
KT:
In my humble opinion, Ivan Cole would be proud of the way you’ve carried on his creation “The Case for…”. Thoroughly enjoyed this one!
I think it cannot be stressed enough that the defensive game planning by T. Austin MUST DARE TO BE DIFFERENT. Not in the way he “…thought the Ravens thought the Steelers thought the Ravens would run their offense in the playoff game last year” Austin got bit by his own trickery.
No, the game planning has to be different because there are different weapons to utiliize, and they must be utilized in ways teams both will and won’t expect.
Finally, measuring stick I’ll be watching in 2025 is whether Broderick Jones plays well enough that the Steelers will WANT to pick up his 5th year option; note, I said “want to pick up” , not feel compelled to because they don’t want to draft an LT in the 2026 draft.
If Jones plays well enough to warrant the pickup, then I think the Steelers will have made the playoffs, won at least one playoff game, and made the rest of the NFL sit up and take notice.
Great article Keith! Even though I finally stumbled in here the day after the season actually kicked off! Haha. I concur with so much of what you’ve written, I’ll just post an, “Amen!”