Steelers Now
ESPN recently ranked every NFL team’s starting roster from 1 to 32, along with listing the biggest strength and weakness for each team. The Pittsburgh Steelers overall roster came in at No. 19.
As far as biggest strength, to no surprise, it’s the Steelers’ outside linebackers. The Steelers have an elite group of edge rushers in T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, Nick Herbig and Jack Sawyer.
“Edge rusher. The Steelers ranked fourth in the NFL with a 41.3% pass rush win rate and were sixth with 48 sacks last season. T.J. Watt is not coming off his best season, but he has been an All-Pro in each of his past five healthy seasons and is second in the NFL with 115 sacks since entering the league in 2017 (only he and Myles Garrett have more than 96 during that span),” Mike Clay of ESPN wrote. “Alex Highsmith (37.0 sacks over the past four seasons) is a terrific running mate. Nick Herbig registered a career-high 7.5 sacks last season, and his 24.7% pass rush win rate since entering the league is second to only Micah Parsons during that span.”
Inside linebacker was tabbed as the Steelers’ biggest weakness.
“Off-ball linebacker. Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson are back as the starters, and that might not be a good thing after Pittsburgh ranked 27th in run stop win rate (28.9%) last season,” Clay wrote. “Queen remained an every-down player last season but slipped to 61st among 67 qualified off-ball linebackers in PFF grade (he ranked 54th among 69 qualified in 2024). Wilson could make a Year 3 leap, though he struggled to fend off Cole Holcomb and Malik Harrison, who both remain on the roster, for snaps last season.”
There’s no doubt about it, the Steelers need more from Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson.
Queen hasn’t necessarily lived up to his three-year, $41 million deal that he signed with the Steelers in March of 2024. Wilson also has to be better against the run.
Former Steelers free safety Ryan Clark recently revealed that Steelers’ assistant coach and secondary coach Joe Whitt Jr. told him the inside linebacker play needs to improve drastically this season.
“You have to get better play from the linebacker position. I know PG [Patrick Graham] is gonna have to figure that out from the defensive coordinator standpoint,” Clark said Monday on The Mina Kimes Show featuring Lenny. “Joe Whitt Jr., who’s now the actual — he’s the assistant head coach — and those are conversations I’ve had with him.
“I’ve had conversations with him about how do you fix the second level of this defense? That’s extremely important.”
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: What’s the Biggest Strength, Weakness on Steelers’ Roster?
