“Pain heals, chicks dig scars, glory lasts forever.” Okay, so the Pittsburgh Steelers aren’t quite at the level of Shane Falco and The Replacements, but their offense has a lot of snaps to replace for the 2025 season. According to a post by Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap, the Steelers have the second-most offensive snaps lost from last season. Trailing only the Minnesota Vikings at 24.8 percent, the Steelers are replacing 22.2 percent of their net total snaps on offense.
It’s been a chronically unstable offense since Ben Roethlisberger retired. This isn’t a new phenomenon for the offense, but another year in a long line of them.
What do most of the teams have in common at the top of this list? Their 2024 quarterbacks are no longer on the roster. In the Steelers’ case, none of their 2024 QBs re-signed with the team.
The biggest losses from the 2024 season, in order: Dan Moore Jr. (1,113), Van Jefferson (721), Russell Wilson (719), Najee Harris (569), Justin Fields (408), James Daniels (208).
The quality of players that they are replacing is a mixed bag. Moore got a nice contract and could prove hard to replace with the young tandem of Broderick Jones and Troy Fautanu. Van Jefferson was replaced by a much better option in DK Metcalf. Russell Wilson and Justin Fields are impactful losses, but Aaron Rodgers and/or a a draft pick could play at a comparable or higher level.
Najee Harris might end up being harder to replace than people think. While he wasn’t ever terribly efficient in Pittsburgh, he was incredibly durable and capable of grinding out some tough yards behind a shoddy offensive line.
I don’t think anybody is overly upset about any of the losses on offense, but it’s still a significant chunk of snaps to replace nonetheless.
Some of that is immediately alleviated by Metcalf and his 832 snaps on offense last year. It will be a much more manageable number if Rodgers finally signs with the team and brings his 1,030 2024 snaps with him. The deficit would be much smaller if that ends up being the case.
If the Steelers end up drafting their 2025 starting quarterback, that deficit will remain pretty large and they will once again experience a loss of continuity on offense. The Steelers have had one of the youngest offenses in the league over the last few seasons. Rodgers’ veteran presence could help drag that up while a rookie draft pick would be more of the same.
The defensive side of the ball is an entirely different story. The Steelers are only losing 0.7 percent of their defensive snaps. Donte Jackson, Larry Ogunjobi, Elandon Roberts and Preston Smith are the four biggest snap count losses, but they were replaced by the additions of Daniel Ekuale, Brandin Echols, Malik Harrison, Darius Slay, and Juan Thornhill.
The defense remains pretty stable overall while the offense spends another year in flux.
