In just under a week, the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis will be underway as another major NFL offseason event comes and goes. In the meantime, things are starting to heat up for the Pittsburgh Steelers when it comes to buzz regarding free agency and the trade market as the start of the new league year is under a month away on March 12 at 4 PM/ET
In the meantime here at Steelers Depot, we roll on in our Ranking the Steelers’ Starters post-season series, taking a crack at ranking the Steelers’ starters from No. 24 to No. 1 coming out of the 2024 season.
So, that’s what we’re doing today, taking a look at No. 6-4 after looking at No. 9-7 last week, ranking No. 12-10, No. 15-13, No. 18-16, No. 21-19 and No. 24-22 previously.
As a reminder, here’s the list from No. 24-1 ahead of training camp.
No. 24 — Dan Moore Jr., LT
No. 23 — Darnell Washington, TE
No. 22 — Van Jefferson, WR
No. 21 — Zach Frazier, C
No. 20 — Larry Ogunjobi, DE
No. 19 — Cameron Johnston, P
No. 18 — Donte Jackson, CB
No. 17 — Elandon Roberts, ILB
No. 16 — Broderick Jones, RT
No. 15 — Keeanu Benton, NT
No. 14 — James Daniels, RG
No. 13 — DeShon Elliott, S
No. 12 — Najee Harris, RB
No. 11 — Russell Wilson, QB
No. 10 — Isaac Seumalo, LG
No. 9 — Pat Freiermuth, TE
No. 8 — George Pickens, WR
No. 7 — Joey Porter Jr., CB
No. 6 — Cameron Heyward, DE
No. 5 — Chris Boswell, K
No. 4 — Patrick Queen, LB
No. 3 — Alex Highsmith, OLB
No. 2 — Minkah Fitzpatrick, S
No. 1 — T.J. Watt, OLB
And here is how the post-season Ranking The Steelers’ Starters series looks so far:
No. 24 — Van Jefferson, WR
No. 23 — Dan Moore Jr., LT
No. 22 — Corliss Waitman, P
No. 21 — Broderick Jones, RT
No. 20 — Larry Ogunjobi, DE
No. 19 — Darnell Washington, TE
No. 18 — Donte Jackson, CB
No. 17 — Mason McCormick, RG
No. 16 — Keeanu Benton, NT
No. 15 — Elandon Roberts, ILB
No. 14 — Najee Harris, RB
No. 13 — Pat Freiermuth, TE
No. 12 — Patrick Queen, LB
No. 11 — Russell Wilson, QB
No. 10 — George Pickens, WR
No. 9 — Minkah Fitzpatrick, S
No. 8 — Joey Porter Jr., CB
No. 7 — Isaac Seumalo, LG
Again, a reminder: I won’t have players like Justin Fields, Nick Herbig or Payton Wilson ranked here, because they didn’t play true starter snaps.
Without further ado, let’s jump into the postseason Ranking the Steelers’ Starters, looking at No. 6-4 today.
No. 6 — Zach Frazier, C
He wasn’t slated to be the starter right out of the chute with Nate Herbig expected to hold down the starting center job early in the season. But once Herbig went down with a season-ending injury in training camp, Zach Frazier grabbed ahold of the center position and ran with it, putting his stamp on the position in a big way.
Throughout the season, Frazier was easily the best rookie center in the league, and was one of the best centers in football, period. He garnered some Offensive Rookie of the Year buzz in the process and was a major bright spot for the Steelers.
Frazier, who was named the Joe Greene Great Performance Award winner as the team’s best rookie, was outstanding in 2024. He finished as the best pass-blocking rookie offensive lineman, allowing the lowest pressure rate among all qualifying rookies. According to Pro Football Focus, Frazier played 1,021 snaps and had a grade of 77.9 overall, including an 80.5 in the run game and a 68.6 as a pass blocker.
PFF charged Frazier with just 12 total pressures on 585 pass-blocking reps, giving up one sack. Year 2 projects to be a great one for the West Virginia product.
No. 5 — Alex Highsmith, OLB
Though he missed time throughout the season with groin and ankle injuries, when Alex Highsmith was on the field, he was a very good player once again, both against the run and rushing the passer. In 525 snaps last season, Highsmith finished among the 10 highest-graded EDGE defenders in football, according to Pro Football Focus.
He generated an overall grade of 89.5, including a 79.7 against the run and an 89.7 pass rush grade. He had 48 pressures as a pass rusher and recorded 26 run stops. In eight of the 11 games Highsmith played in during the regular season, he generated at least four pressures rushing the passer.
Health is the biggest thing for him moving forward. The groin injury was something he dealt with in training camp and got progressively worse before knocking him out of the game in Week 3 against the Chargers, and the ankle sprain was a freak thing against the Commanders in Week 11. If he can stay healthy in 2025, look out.
No. 4 — T.J. Watt, OLB
This is the first time in the three years doing this series that I’ve not had T.J. Watt inside the top three to end the season. While he was quite good once again during the 2024 season, he lacked the true impact that we’ve become accustomed to.
Watt had just 11.5 sacks on the season, but he did lead the NFL with six forced fumbles and remained a great run defender, too. On top of the 11.5 sacks, Watt had 53 pressures. However, he disappeared down the stretch after suffering an ankle injury against the Philadelphia Eagles, putting up back-to-back games in Week 18 and the AFC Wild Card Round loss without a single registered stat.
Teams also put a greater emphasis on him, chipping him and sliding protection his way at the highest rate in the NFL in 2024. Watt struggled to adjust to that, and the coaching staff didn’t help him out much, either, by keeping him stationary on the Steelers’ defense. Hopefully that changes in 2025.
