Behind the Steel Curtain
The Steelers have gone all-in on the Aaron Rodgers experience. Which three Secret Superstars on the 2025 roster can help Rodgers and Mike Tomlin hit the next level?
The last time the Pittsburgh Steelers had the benefit of top-tier quarterback play, it was the 2020 season, when Ben Roethlisberger completed 446 of 676 passes for 4,304 yards, 37 touchdowns, 14 interceptions, and a passer rating of 93.2. It was the last season in which the Steelers won the AFC North. It was also the first of four times since that the Steelers were bounced out of the postseason in the Wild Card round.
Since then, through Big Ben’s inevitable end, and the Kenny Pickett thing that didn’t work out, and the Russell Wilson/Justin Fields thing that didn’t quite get there, and the three straight seasons from 2021-2023 that the team managed winning seasons with negative point differentials (a truly remarkable feat), it’s been about building everything else up as much as possible, and hoping that the quarterbacks can hold just enough water.
In today’s NFL, that just doesn’t work. The last time any team won the Super Bowl with iffy quarterback play, it was the 2015 Broncos with Zombie Peyton Manning, and one of the best defenses in recent league history.
So now, there is the Aaron Rodgers experience, and the hope that Rodgers can raise all the boats around him.
“I think it starts with Mike Tomlin,” Pittsburgh’s new quarterback said on Tuesday, when asked why this was the right fit for him. “I’ve been a fan of his for a long time. There’s a few iconic franchises in the NFL. I played for one of them for 18 years. This is another one of those. There’s something special about obviously this area. So many great quarterbacks are from Pittsburgh. I feel like Pittsburgh has been a part of my career from the beginning, playing for Mike McCarthy for 13 years, having Tom Clements, or Tommy Clements, depending how old you are, as my quarterback coach forever, Dom Capers, Kevin Greene, Darren Perry, Derrick McAdoo, Frank Cignetti, Luke Getsy.
“I don’t want to forget anybody, but a lot of Yinzers in my life.”
If Rodgers is to be the man who can indeed take things to the heights that longtime Steelers fans are used to, he will need help around him, as any quarterback does. In the continuation of our “Hidden Gems” series, we look at one underrated veteran, one underrated free-agent signing, and one underrated draft pick for the 2025 season — three new and experienced Yinzers ready to elevate their own games.
Obviously, the 2022 draft was pretty decent for the Steelers at the receiver position. You can pick nits with the overall impact of both players for different reasons, but getting George Pickens in the second round, and Calvin Austin III in the fourth round, is a haul that a lot of NFL teams would envy.
Even with Pickens...
