Steelers Now
Football season is just around the corner. The Pittsburgh Steelers are set to arrive for training camp this week at Saint Vincent College, with their first practice taking place on Thursday, July 24th. This offseason has been nothing short of eventful, one that started with them making a splash trade for DK Metcalf and promptly inking him to a lucrative extension that will keep him in the black and gold throughout his prime. They followed that up by taking some uncharacteristic risks on some aging veterans, and time will tell if those dart throws prove worth it.
This team is going to look much, much different this fall, and that could be a good thing. As they say, competition brings out the best in athletes, and there are certainly a handful of positional battles that are definitely worth keeping an eye on over the next month or so. While some veterans are fighting for their spots on the 53-man roster, other players are jockeying for playing time. The defense feels much more set in stone, but important questions remain on the flip side. Today, we’ll analyze a handful of the most intriguing clashes to determine their rank on the depth chart.
Steelers wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni has already publicly proclaimed Calvin Austin III as the squad’s WR2 after a breakout season in which he amassed 548 yards and four touchdowns, but what will his usage look like in 2025? 62% of his snaps last season came in the slot, and given his lack of size that prohibits his effectiveness as a blocker, other vet options like Robert Woods and Ben Skowronek could factor into the rotation on early downs. Roman Wilson, the franchise’s third-round pick a year ago, is the ultimate wild card in this equation after missing virtually all of his rookie campaign. Unless Pittsburgh is able to acquire another playmaker before the regular season, Arthur Smith will have to get really creative to make all the puzzle pieces fit. On the bright side, at least they’re in a slightly better spot this time around.
The Steelers made a bold move by trading for Jalen Ramsey, but in doing so, they acquired one of the most physical and versatile defensive backs in the entire league. He’s still got enough juice to play along the boundary, but the real appeal comes from moving him around as a weapon of mass destruction. Juan Thornhill figures to be the biggest benefactor of Pittsburgh’s decision to give up on Minkah Fitzpatrick following a down season for his standards. Still, this is a defense that deployed dime personnel on over 12% of their snaps last season, leaving questions about who will act as the sixth man in those pass-down-only packages. Beanie Bishop had an opportunistic rookie season, Brandin Eichols is an impressive linear athlete, and Cory Trice has the size to match up with bigger body types. All three of those men have solid odds to...
