The Pittsburgh Steelers entered the 2024 NFL Draft with needs at a small handful of positions, and they were able to fill those for the most part. The offensive line was solidified for the foreseeable future with three of the first five picks used to beef up that unit.
They also added talent at wide receiver and inside linebacker which were both near the top of their list of needs. It is way too early to have a clear picture of what the 2025 draft class may look like, but some draft analysts have great things to say about two positions that will likely be near the top of the Steelers’ wish list.
The Draft Network’s Ryan Fowler posted on X today about the defensive line class.
“It’s early, like, EXTREMELY early, but one thing to know about the 2025 class… the defensive line is absolutely loaded with talent,” Fowler wrote.
If that ends up playing out as projected, it would be perfect timing for the Steelers. Cameron Heyward could very well be going into the final year of his career, and the DL group is in desperate need of a youth movement. The Steelers added Dean Lowry this year in free agency, but he is more of a veteran stopgap option to ensure depth in the short term. Larry Ogunjobi is also soon to turn 30 years old and has largely failed to live up to his contract extension.
That leaves Keeanu Benton as the young building block of the unit, and they will need to address the position early in next year’s draft after waiting until the sixth round to add Logan Lee in the 2024 draft. The DL group this year was one of the weakest groups in the draft, and many of the players who have the prototypical frames that the Steelers look for were drafted much earlier than expected as a result.
Currently projected near the top of the class are Michigan DL Mason Graham, Kentucky DL Deone Walker, and USC DL Bear Alexander, but it sounds like it will be a much more talented group than 2024, and with more depth into the middle rounds.
With Najee Harris’ fifth-year option declined, running back could be high on the list of needs as well. One of Jaylen Warren or Harris will almost certainly remain with the team, but they did not address that in the draft this year and might need to replace whoever departs via the draft.
PFF’s CFB analyst Max Chadwick said that the RB class is going to be stacked in next year’s draft.
The RB class was another group that was lacking in both high-end talent and depth in 2024, but that doesn’t appear to be the case in 2025. Chadwick thinks that multiple of the projected RBs in next year’s class could have been the first off the board if stacked up against 2024.
I don’t know if any of you have gone back and looked at any of the way-too-early mock drafts from this time last year. The projections didn’t exactly align with reality. Injuries happen, and players will regress or emerge from their performances last year. All that to say, the draft is unpredictable, and nobody has a great idea of how the class stacks up until the pre-draft process is well underway. But the early indications look positive to align with some of the Steelers’ needs.
