It’s been quite a busy offseason for the Pittsburgh Steelers, with fresh faces appearing at several positions across the roster. However, they haven’t really improved much. Despite keeping many of the same players they won 10 games with last year, Chris Brockman with The Rich Eisen Show isn’t encouraged by the team’s roster heading into 2025. On Wednesday, Brockman included them in his ‘powerless rankings’ and listed them the 28th-best team in the league.
“[No.] 28 is the Steelers,” Brockman said. “They’re not good, they’re going to be pretty bad. And they really need to be bad-bad. They need to bottom out and start over.”
It’s not necessarily a new thing for analysts to be pessimistic about the Steelers during the summer. Typically, they come into the year without significant improvements and receive low expectations. Pittsburgh usually surpasses those expectations, with 2024 being a good example. Not many were high on the team’s potential going into the season, and although things fell apart at the end, their 10-3 start to the year was impressive.
However, this year’s expectations feel more extreme than most. The Steelers have received even worse than 28th this offseason, as they were listed 30th in power rankings from Fox Sports recently. Looking at the Steelers’ roster at the moment, it’s fair to be pessimistic.
The biggest issue is the quarterback position, which remains a huge question mark until Aaron Rodgers makes a decision. The Steelers still, as they always have, feel like his best spot. However, he’s not doing them any favors by dragging this out for so long. At this point, some are starting to question whether Rodgers is even the answer for the Steelers anymore.
Speaking with Brockman, Andrew Siciliano, who’s filling in as the host for Eisen, thinks Will Howard should be the answer if not Rodgers.
“If it isn’t Aaron, it should be Will Howard,” Siciliano said.
There is a chance that Howard takes some meaningful snaps in 2025, especially if Rodgers doesn’t sign. Having him start the season seems extremely unlikely, though. It’s rare for sixth-round quarterbacks even to see the field in their rookie year, let alone earn a starting role. With Mason Rudolph’s familiarity with the franchise, he’d step into that role, barring an unfortunate injury.
Brockman made the point that the Steelers should be bad, for their own good. It’s become clear that they’re using the 2026 NFL Draft as a chance to draft that quarterback. Just for the sake of imagining, would it be the worst thing in the world if Howard were to start?
If things work out, that’s a great value with a sixth-round pick. If they don’t work out, which is certainly more likely, then the Steelers at least got a chance to see what’s already in their quarterback room. They’d also have a higher draft pick next year and less difficulty finding a quarterback.
Either way, the Steelers’ roster isn’t in high regard this offseason. Most of the reason for that is their lack of a quarterback. Until there’s a solution, it’s going to be hard for analysts like Brockman to start feeling more optimistic about Pittsburgh.
