The Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense is full of big-name players. Players like DT Cam Heyward, OLB T.J. Watt, CB Joey Porter Jr., and LB Patrick Queen. And there are even newer faces like CB Darius Slay and DB Jalen Ramsey. And every single one of them will play a big role in the success or failure of the Steelers in 2025.
But they aren’t the only ones. Here are three Steelers’ defensive players who I think will be X factors this upcoming season.
CB Beanie Bishop Jr.
Bishop went from an undrafted free agent to starting six games and appearing in all 17 for the Steelers in 2024. Not only did he do that, but he also pulled in four interceptions as a rookie. And two of those came from the Steelers’ new quarterback, Aaron Rodgers. When Rodgers visited the Steelers earlier this offseason, Bishop got the chance to thank him for signing the two balls the West Virginia product intercepted off him.
Undrafted CB Beanie Bishop picked a good night to have his first two career INTs 🙌@Cisco | @_sbx2 pic.twitter.com/eYLQBuCxCN
— NFL (@NFL) October 21, 2024
By those marks, Bishop had a successful rookie season. But after Cam Sutton was activated from the suspended list, Bishop’s snap count dropped late in the season. That frustrated him, and he wants to see more playing time in 2025. Will he, though?
The Steelers now have a glut of corners after trading for Ramsey last week. They have three potential starting outside corners in Porter, Slay, and Ramsey. Ramsey does offer positional flexibility at both the slot/nickel corner spot and safety. So, how much playing time will Bishop get?
Only time will tell, but Beanie Bishop made the best out of his rookie season. Four interceptions are a good start to his career. He also knocked down seven passes. He could play a vital role, either as the primary nickel corner or rotational one, in 2025. And here’s hoping for more interceptions.
S Juan Thornhill
Bishop isn’t the only player whose playing time is impacted by Ramsey’s arrival. When the Steelers signed Juan Thornhill, we all expected him to serve as a rotational depth safety and potentially as a big nickel safety. But when the Steelers shipped S Minkah Fitzpatrick to the Miami Dolphins as part of the Ramsey trade, that opened up a gaping hole in the Steelers’ secondary opposite S DeShon Elliott.
And Thornhill is the logical player to step into the open free safety role. He’s played in 87 games over six NFL seasons, starting 74 of them. He’s got the experience, both at the position and being a part of a winning team. Thornhill spent four years with the Kansas City Chiefs and won a Super Bowl with them. He knows what being a part of a winning culture is like.
Thornhill has shown an ability to make plays on the ball with eight career interceptions and 24 pass breakups. He’s also proven to be a physical and willing tackler, which the Steelers certainly could use with how badly the Baltimore Ravens ran over them in the playoffs last year.
However, will the Steelers use Ramsey as a safety at any point throughout the year? There are a lot of moving parts in the Steelers’ secondary right now. But Thornhill certainly has shown he can play at a high level in the NFL, and he could make a big impact in 2025.
OLB Nick Herbig
The Steelers have top-tier pass rushers at the outside linebacker position. T.J. Watt is one of the best in the entire league and holds the Steelers’ career record for sacks. Alex Highsmith has proven himself as a very good pass rusher opposite Watt, giving opposing offensive lines fits.
But the Steelers have a bit of a Watt problem at the moment. Namely, he hasn’t been a part of any offseason workouts, voluntary or otherwise. He wants a new contract and will be turning 31 this season. Then, there is the matter of injuries. Both Watt and Highsmith have missed games in the past few seasons, meaning the third outside linebacker can see a lot of action due to rotation and potential injuries.
And Nick Herbig has proven himself a capable pass rusher in his limited snaps through his first two seasons. He has 8.5 sacks and 10 tackles for a loss in 606 snaps over 30 games (only five starts). And as both Watt and Highsmith continue to age, Herbig will be in line for more snaps. His position coach, Denzel Martin, said this offseason that the Steelers want Herbig on the field more.
If Nick Herbig can get on the field even more in 2025, he’ll prove just how disruptive he can be as a pass rusher.
