Steelers Now
PITTSBURGH — The first week of Pittsburgh Steelers OTAs for the 2025 season are in the books, and with the team going to a condensed scheduled this year, we’re also at the midpoint of the optional team activities.
Head coach Mike Tomlin has said over and over again that the Steelers are not evaluating players at OTAs, that it’s simply a time for teaching and learning.
But that doesn’t mean that we can’t evaluate and learn things about how players look ahead of the 2025 season, where they’re playing, how much the team looks to be leaning on them and more.
So here’s our winners and losers from the first week of Steelers OTAs:
After trading George Pickens, and especially with DK Metcalf not at practice for the first week of OTAs, the Steelers aren’t exactly flush with offensive playmakers. That was the same case last year, and Roman Wilson was unable to help the cause, mostly because he was unable to stay on the field due to injury.
But Wilson also struggled with the transition to the NFL. He was healthy down the stretch run of the 2024 season and the Steelers decided not to use him. So far, the player on the field over the first three days of OTAs in 2025 has been significantly better than the one we saw last summer.
Wilson will still have to prove he stay healthy, but if he can, he looks like he’ll be able to make an impact.
Maybe this is actually a good thing. The hype train for Steelers sixth-round rookie Will Howard had gone completely out of control before the Ohio State product even debuted in black and gold, with some wanting the Steelers to stop pursuing Aaron Rodgers, bench Mason Rudolph, and start the college football national champion instead.
Let’s put those thoughts aside. Even Howard has admitted his first practices with the full Steelers squad didn’t go so well. Hopefully, the hype dies down and Howard is able to develop like a normal sixth-round pick.
When the Steelers signed Darius Slay and Brandin Echols as their two big additions at the cornerback position this offseason, it seemed likely that one would play inside and the other would play outside. But when they lined up for the first time this week, that wasn’t the case, with Beanie Bishop getting the starting nod at slot cornerback and Echols working on the outside.
The only other addition to the slot position this offseason was seventh-round pick Donte Kent, so the Steelers are showing a lot of faith in their second-year West Virginia product to lock down the slot role.
With Echols playing outside, a roster spot that looked like it was James Pierre’s to lose will now be a competition. Slay and Joey Porter Jr. will start, and with Echols on a two-year deal, his spot is secure. It’s hard to imagine the...
