Steelers Now
It’s safe to say that the Pittsburgh Steelers defense was one of, if not the single most disappointing unit in all of football over the first two months of the 2025 season. Despite allocating more than $25M more than any other team in the league—to that side of the ball, they were getting bludgeoned on a weekly basis. However, things are finally starting to trend in the right direction. Over the past three weeks, they rank 6th in EPA/play allowed and 7th in success rate and have controlled two high-octane offenses, the Indianapolis Colts and Cincinnati Bengals, in that time frame.
Drastic in-season improvements are so rarely a direct result of one specific change, but there’s no denying that there’s a direct correlation at play here, highlighted by the Steelers’ new safety duo.
There was a clear miscalculation from the organization in their belief that the recently released Juan Thornhill was a capable fit to replace what they were losing in Minkah Fitzpatrick, who was traded to the Miami Dolphins in June. To make matters worse, DeShon Elliott has had a frustrating campaign riddled with injuries immediately following his breakout season as a pro.
Former All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey and freshly acquired Kyle Dugger have provided some much-needed stability for Pittsburgh’s defense on the backend.
Because of his unmatched physicality and high football IQ, Ramsey’s eventual move to safety was easy to foresee, and the transition has been extremely smooth thus far. His size and length have been a weapon for Pittsburgh when they want to get in their man coverage looks because he can defend against bigger body types, specifically tight ends, that were running amok on this defense early in the season. He’s smooth in his pedal with fluid hips and enough range to help keep a lid on vertical shots when aligned in centerfield. But the most noticeable change has been that the defense just feels different with him patrolling the third level. Not only is he a reliable tackler, having missed just 4.3% of his chances this year per PFF, but the Steelers are also starting to deploy some disguised zone coverages to funnel the ball in his direction in key situations such as third downs.
Dugger’s path to Pittsburgh was less conventional after injuries contributed to subpar performance last year, which also put him behind the eight ball with a brand new coaching staff entering the fold. Now healthy, his competitive toughness has been on display in all three of his starts thus far. At 6-foot-1, 217 pounds, Dugger has the old-school build of a box safety and a rugged playstyle to match. At the peak of his powers, the Lenoir-Rhyne could be utilized in man coverage versus tight ends, and we’ve seen some flashes of that already in the steel city. Despite tweaking some of their coverage tendencies in recent weeks, the secondary has had fewer busts in coverage, and part of that credit should go to Dugger, who can be seen regularly communicating...
