Behind the Steel Curtain
It’s the NFL offseason, which means teams tend to get discussed in the most macro terms possible: the quarterbacks, the star players, game-by-game predictions, and so on.
But sometimes, the greatest stories from training camp, minicamp, and OTAs are about the lesser-known players: the names fighting for a roster spot, filling in roles in a rotation, or fine-tuning their skills on special teams.
With that in mind, this week we wanted to highlight some unsung heroes from the Steelers’ 2025 team who continue to fly under the radar entering 2026. These are players who probably won’t be starters, but found ways to stand out in their smaller roles:
RB: Bruener was the reason why I wanted to write this article in the first place. The 2025 seventh-rounder played 288 snaps his rookie season, but just one was on defense. He became one of the Steelers’ top special teamers almost immediately, playing snaps on kickoffs and punts as both a blocker and a tackler.
While not among the league’s most prestigious honors, he was named a second-team all-pro by PFF for his work on special teams, also nabbing a spot on the Pro Football Writers of America’s all-rookie squad.
For the 226th overall pick in the draft, that’s a great return on investment. But I think one of the reasons that Bruener’s excellence flew under the radar – besides a general lack of special teams appreciation in the NFL media/fanbase – was that he was always expected to do well in that role.
Coming out of college at Washington (you can read my June 2025 “rookie report” on Bruener here), he had the exact sort of profile you expect from a special teams ace: high-effort, high-football IQ player, a little undersized but a capable athlete, team captain, and NFL bloodlines (son of former Steelers tight end and now-scout Mark Bruener).
And of course, Bruener was already a good special teamer in college.
I won’t pretend to be a special teams strategy savant, but it’s fairly easy to see the football IQ we all raved about with Bruener pre-draft when he’s covering returns.
Bruener displays strong lane awareness, but more importantly, he’s always keyed in on where the ball carrier is, knowing when to go in for the tackle even if it’s from a tougher angle. While his lateral agility was a question coming out of college, he’s a solid accelerator who can close ground quickly, and despite some size concerns (6’1, 227 pounds), he consistently showed the ability to use his hands to keep himself free.
In fact, Bruener was one of the top special teams tacklers in the league last year, notching 19 in total, which tied for the 10th-most. He added two more in the Steelers’ playoff loss to the Houston Texans.
While special teams is generally seen as the dirty work of an NFL game, Bruener still found ways to get highlight plays. Especially later in the year, he was sending potential blockers flying...
