Cover photo taken from Bleacher Report.
Welcome to 32 Teams in 32 Days, a daily series leading up to kickoff of the 2025 NFL season where I preview every team in the league as decided by a wheel spin and project what their season will look like. You can keep up with everything right here.
We’re rounding out the AFC North in the land of the Yinzers, where arguably the busiest offseason in the NFL has many believing that the Steelers are finally back to being Super Bowl contenders. I, however, am not convinced.
If nothing else, the Steelers are consistent. Consistently mediocre? Sure. This proud franchise hasn’t won a playoff game since Barack Obama was president and has repeatedly crashed out of the postseason after hot regular season starts. Sure, they haven’t had a losing season in Mike Tomlin’s tenure, but that’s not enough anymore. It’s the standard, but at some point, a new standard has to be set.
You have to imagine that’s what the crux of this summer was in Pittsburgh: pushing whatever chips they have to the center of the table and seeing if they can get away with bluffing.
It feels crazy to think about the Steelers being 10-3 last year, but they won a ton of games in typical Steelers fashion en route to losing their last four regular season games and being blown out of the water in the Wild Card at Baltimore. This team was just pure mid a year ago, with an offense that ranked 20th in EPA/play, 26th in success rate and 27th in passing yards. The defense is obviously the strong suit, having ranked 9th in EPA/play and 8th in points per game, but that’s still nothing mind-boggling. They didn’t have consistent quarterback play from Justin Fields or Russell Wilson, they couldn’t run the ball effectively enough to balance that out and the defense simply fell apart down the stretch.
So, to fix the quarterback play, they bring in 41-year old Aaron Rodgers. Genius idea, guys!
ARod is obviously a first-ballot Hall of Famer and one of the most gifted quarterbacks in NFL history, but let’s not kid ourselves here. This is the last dance. He can still sling the rock, but he’s just a fraction of the player he once was. With the Jets last year, he was 22nd in EPA+CPOE and 25th in QBR. Russell Wilson was 18th and 22nd, respectively. So, I guess this is a downgrade for Pittsburgh? Combine that with all of his off-the-field nonsense — though, if anyone can steer him in the right direction, it’s his good friend Mike Tomlin — and I just don’t like this move.
To lift up their new signal-caller, the Steelers traded the walking emotional rollercoaster in George Pickens to Dallas and acquired the polarizing DK Metcalf from Seattle, then signed him to a very generous four-year, $132 million contract extension. I’m not going to dive into how I feel about that deal, but just know that I don’t feel many positive emotions. Regardless, it means that Rodgers will have the vertical threat that he wants in this offense, even if OC Arthur Smith doesn’t want to attack downfield very much. Pittsburgh also moved off of Najee Harris and drafted star Iowa running back Kaleb Johnson to be his replacement. That is a move I feel good about; Johnson was a stud in college and brings a unique blend of contact balance and explosiveness to a run game that desperately needs it.
Another productive pass-catcher was added in TE Jonnu Smith, which is a solid move to be sure, but the story of that move was the other players that were involved. The Steelers sent standout safety Minkah Fitzpatrick back to Miami in exchange for DB Jalen Ramsey, who is exiting his prime, but can still produce on his good days. Honestly, that swap feels like a wash. Bringing in Chuck Clark and Juan Thornhill in free agency can help soften the blow of losing Minkah, and adding Ramsey to a corner room which already gained Darius Slay means that even if that group lacks talent, they’ll have experience. Plus, Joey Porter Jr. has emerged as a guy who can line up across from an opposing WR1.
In any case, the strength of this team will be its front seven, as is always the case. Last year, they were third in pass rush win rate, but just 17th in run stop win rate. The usual suspects are still here: TJ Watt, Alex Highsmith, Cameron Heyward, Patrick Queen. And Payton Wilson quietly had a very good rookie year at LB. That makes for an effective pass rush. But the Steelers should be better against the run with the selection of DT Derrick Harmon in the first round; not to mention, Keeanu Benton has really come on strong to help lock down the interior as well.
X-Factor: QB Aaron Rodgers
Always feels a little cheap to put the quarterback as the X-factor, but this one is pretty obvious, right? We know the defense is going to be one of the 10 best in the league. We know the special teams will be great. I have a feeling the offensive line will hold up. The weapons don’t really matter as much as the QB does. And when that QB is Aaron Rodgers, and all of the eyes are on you every weekend, it’s that much more important. I honestly don’t know how much more Rodgers has in the tank. He flashed some really good stuff last year, but was more inconsistent than anything else and posted the worst passer rating of his career — that’s a feat he’s now done twice in his last two full seasons of starting. He’s clearly on the decline, and this offense clearly isn’t good enough to lift him up. So, who’s doing the heavy lifting on that side of the ball? Anyone? Not really. He’ll be good enough to keep things afloat, but I genuinely think this might’ve been a situational downgrade from Russ, especially in Arthur Smith’s offense.
Team MVP: T.J. Watt
Pretty obvious choice here. Watt has emerged as one of the league’s most consistently dominant players, wrecking games week in and week out with his remarkable athleticism and playmaking ability. He’s the heart and soul of this football team, and maybe even the city at large. He may have had a quiet 2024, ranking 12th in PRWR with 11 sacks, six forced fumbles and no interceptions. But that being a “down year” just goes to show how elite he is. Now that he’s received his well-deserved three-year, $123 million contract extension, I fully expect him to get back to his dominant ways and make another push for Defensive Player of the Year, so long as he stays on the field.
Breakout Candidate: WR Roman Wilson
All the reports concerning last year’s third-round wide receiver out of Steelers camp have been overwhelmingly positive. Whether it’s Wilson’s rapport with Rodgers growing or simply his strong development, it appears the former Michigan man is in for a big 2025 now that he’s being inserted into the starting lineup. At 5-foot-11 and 185 pounds, size has always been a concern, but he could feasibly be a Randall Cobb-type player and emerge as a security blanket underneath for Rodgers while Metcalf is too busy running in a straight line downfield. That’s where he made his money with JJ McCarthy when they were both Wolverines, after all.
Record Prediction: 9-8
It’s like taking candy from a baby at this point, isn’t it? Steelers make a push to finish above .500, everyone lauds Mike Tomlin for once again avoiding a losing record, but it’s not enough to make anything close to a push for a Super Bowl. I just don’t have enough faith in this offense to produce anything close to what’s necessary for them to make legitimate noise in the AFC. I think this is a second-place team at best, and I have them as the first team out of the playoffs while the division rival Bengals snatch that last spot in the final week of the season. Then, Rodgers retires and spends the rest of his life doing whatever the hell he wants, and the Steelers remain a direction-less franchise holding onto six Super Bowls and another winning record as the playoff win drought reaches a decade.
Next up: 
Minnesota Vikings
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