Cam Heyward and T.J. Watt are once again fixtures on NFL top 100 lists, but despite Pittsburgh’s offseason talent boost, they were the only Steelers deemed worthy by ESPN this year.
Heyward was arguably the best defensive tackle in the NFL last season, but these lists are about projecting future performances. ESPN seems to think Heyward’s age will start to catch up with him in 2025 with a No. 58 ranking on the top 100. He was ranked 75th on the same list last year, so his first-team All-Pro season only bumped him up 17 spots.
“Heyward is playing some of the best football of his career as of late. The defensive tackle earned All-Pro honors for a monstrous season in 2024, when he batted down a career-high 11 passes, collected eight sacks and recorded 20 QB hits,” Brooke Pryor wrote. “He is a disruptive force at the line of scrimmage and is poised to continue anchoring the Steelers defense in 2025.”
Eventually his age will catch up to him, but there is no reason to predict that being this year – not after the incredible season he had last year.
Watt just got paid the most money for a non-quarterback in league history. It’s hard to complain about being ranked the No. 11 player in the NFL, but that still feels a bit low for the perennial All-Pro. He fell one spot from his 2024 ranking.
“Watt had an uncharacteristically quiet five-game stretch to end the 2024 season, and he has been blunt in his desire to shake things up entering 2025,” Pryor wrote. “He is focused on becoming more versatile and rushing from the left and right. ‘He’s taking parts of his game to a new level,’ fellow pass rusher Alex Highsmith said.”
Improved talent around him and a renewed interest in moving him around to make it more difficult for offenses to scheme him out of games should help propel him to his former heights. And it’s not like he had a bad season in 2024, just a quiet one at the end of the year when it mattered most.
If the Steelers’ secondary is as good as it’s hyped up to be, Watt should have an extra split second to get home on the quarterback. Expect big numbers in 2025 and for him to make this No. 11 rank look like a mistake by the panelists. Sidenote: Myles Garrett was ranked No. 3.
Jeremy Fowler surveys league execs to assess the biggest snubs on the top 100 list, and CB Jalen Ramsey was listed.
“He can outstay his welcome,” one NFL personnel director told Fowler. “But when he’s motivated and locked in, he’s still really good.”
The Steelers plan to use him like he hasn’t been used since his dominant college years – as a safety, slot defender and wide corner. Making him the chess piece on defense should put him in position to make plays, and there were plenty of positive reports out of training camp for him in that role.
Other players who could work themselves into the top 100 conversation by the end of the season include Patrick Queen, Zach Frazier, Troy Fautanu, DK Metcalf, Alex Highsmith and Joey Porter Jr.
Mike Tomlin claims they have what it takes to be a “historic” defense if all goes according to plan. If that’s true, you can expect more of the Steelers’ defense on this top 100 list next year.
The Steelers have their most talented roster in almost a decade, regardless of what the top 100 list might suggest.
