The Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t do anything especially flashy or newsworthy during the 2025 NFL Draft. They didn’t draft a top quarterback prospect, but quietly found some solid players who fill positions of need. All things considered, the Steelers have gotten decent reviews for their class so far.
Former NFL defensive end Leger Douzable isn’t as happy with the class. Speaking on the Pushing The Pile podcast on Monday, Douzable said he didn’t like the Steelers’ haul and that it didn’t ‘excite’ him.
“I think they got some good pieces,” Douzable said. “But to your point, there was glaring needs on this team that I don’t think they fulfilled. When you look at the Steelers’ draft, that’s one thing you can always bank on them home-run drafts. And when I look at that draft, nothing excites me… If you don’t have a quarterback in this league, you have no chance.”
Douzable says the Steelers didn’t fill the ‘glaring’ holes on their roster. Looking at their first couple of selections, that feels really hard to agree with.
Arguably, the biggest need on the roster was the interior of the defensive line. While there were a lot of weak links across the team during their five-game skid to end the 2024 season, the defensive line was one of the weakest. Pittsburgh addressed that in the first round, selecting Derrick Harmon out of Oregon. In the fifth round, they took another defensive lineman, Yahya Black. While Jack Sawyer doesn’t specifically play on the interior, he also has some experience there from his time at Ohio State. Pittsburgh specifically hopes he’ll help against the run.
Another need they filled was at running back. Kaleb Johnson provides excellent value at the 83rd overall selection. His physical running style should complement both Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell.
Judging by Douzable’s statement about not having a quarterback, his qualms with the Steelers likely reside in their waiting until the sixth round to draft one, which ended up being Will Howard. It’s fair to say they should have taken one earlier. However, it’s not as if Pittsburgh doesn’t have a plan.
That plan seems to reside with Aaron Rodgers, who has yet to sign with the team. If he does, the Steelers should roll into the 2025 season with a talented offense. Even if he doesn’t, there’s plenty of talent for Howard or Mason Rudolph.
In a weak quarterback class in general, it’s hard to blame the Steelers for using their early draft picks on other positions of need.
