The Pittsburgh Steelers’ roster looks pretty strong on paper, especially coming off a busy offseason in which GM Omar Khan plugged a number of holes. New faces at quarterback, wide receiver, and in the secondary have answered some major questions.
Now, all that matters is what transpires on the field. The Steelers report to training camp Wednesday in Latrobe, aiming to compete for a Super Bowl this season. Though questions remain about the effectiveness of the new additions to the roster, particularly at quarterback, ESPN’s Seth Walder believes things hinge entirely on the Steelers’ new-look secondary.
Following the signing of veterans Darius Slay, Brandin Echols and Juan Thornhill in free agency, and then the shocking trade of Minkah Fitzpatrick to Miami for Jalen Ramsey, the Steelers’ secondary under first-year position coach Gerald Alexander looks drastically different.
That position group is Walder’s X factor for the 2025 season for the Black and Gold.
“The Steelers’ recipe for success in 2025 is a passable offense with an elite defense. Regarding the latter, the pass rush is fully there. The questions are in the secondary,” Walder writes. “Can Jalen Ramsey and Darius Slay play like their younger selves? Can Joey Porter Jr. get the penalties in check? Can Juan Thornhill be an adequate replacement for Minkah Fitzpatrick as the deep safety?
“If the answer to all three questions is ‘yes,’ then the Steelers will be dangerous.”
Based on how the Steelers have gone about building their roster this offseason, there’s a clear style of football they want to continue to play. That’s leaning heavily on the run game behind a young offensive line expected to take a significant step this season. On top of that, they want to be able to hit shots down the field to their big, physical receiver, while also taking advantage of the middle of the field with the plethora of tight ends they have.
The pieces are in place to do that, and they have what should be a very good defense. That defense will be led by a front seven featuring Cameron Heyward, T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, Keeanu Benton and rookie Derrick Harmon.
But it will all come down to how the secondary performs. As Walder laid out, Joey Porter Jr. has to clean up the penalties in Year 3. If he can do that, he could become one of the better young cornerbacks in football. Slay at 34 years old and Ramsey at 31 years old need to turn back the clocks just a bit and play good football.
And Thornhill, who was cast off by the Cleveland Browns, needs to show he can still be that serviceable safety on a Super Bowl-caliber defense like he was during his time with the Kansas City Chiefs. Replacing Fitzpatrick in his role as the deep safety will be difficult, but the Steelers believe they can do it with Thornhill.
After struggling last season down the stretch with communication in the secondary and limiting big plays, the Steelers went about addressing the position group in a major way, starting with the position coach change. Things look rather good at the position entering training camp now, so if the secondary can play at a strong level, Pittsburgh should be — as Walder says — dangerous.
