Behind the Steel Curtain
Bickley and Parish share their final thoughts on the Steelers 2025 draft, ask what we should expect from quarterback Will Howard, and project the defensive line rotation for the upcoming season.
The Steelers’ 2025 roster is finally starting to take shape following the conclusion of the NFL Draft. In this week’s Read & React, Ryan and Ryland take one last look at the Steelers’ haul before diving into how some of those picks might’ve shuffled the depth chart at two positional groups.
RB: I gave this draft a B+ back when we did BTSC staff grades at the end of Day 3, and my knee-jerk reaction then is about the same as my thoughts now. This isn’t a flashy draft or one that solves every problem that the Steelers had last season, but the top five picks all have fairly defined roles right away, and seventh-rounders Carson Bruener and Donte Kent look, at the very least, like they have the potential to be quality special-teamers early-on.
As I wrote on Saturday, it’s a “foundational” draft full of great scheme fits. The team might not get a playoff win out of it this year, but it’s a forward-thinking haul that builds a strong base for future seasons. It’s hard to complain about good additions to the trenches and a starting-caliber running back born to play in an Arthur Smith offense.
The Steelers didn’t solve the quarterback problem in the draft, but this wasn’t the year to do so. That doesn’t hurt their grade.
Look, the concept of draft grades immediately after the fact has been universally hated ever since it became a “thing,” and I get it. But I promise you, every writer tasked with “grading” drafts understands that these can and will change down the road. If you’re reading opinion articles about the NFL and don’t want opinions, I don’t know what to tell you.
With that out of the way, the one pick I’m still not sure about is Ohio State edge rusher Jack Sawyer in the fourth round. I see the vision — he’s a strong, run-defending outside linebacker who is a nice alternative to Nick Herbig, whose game is built on quickness and pass-rushing, on the Steelers depth chart. Sawyer also offers, presumably, more special teams ability than Preston Smith did last year.
But spending a fourth-round pick on an OLB4 feels a bit rich to me given that there were still good wide receivers, defensive backs, and offensive linemen on the board who would fill bigger needs this season or next. Instead, the Steelers — a team with a good number of roster holes — added to their biggest strength.
I know Sawyer was graded as a Day 2 talent by the vast majority of analysts, but I’m a bit lower on his game. He just doesn’t...
