While the Steelers are high on rookie OLB Jack Sawyer, they also understand he is a young player figuring things out at this point. Through two preseason games, he has been largely unremarkable, but not without a flash or two along the way. He will contribute as a rookie, but they likely won’t put too much on his plate right away.
“Yeah, he’s still developing”, Steelers HC Teryl Austin said of Sawyer, via transcript provided by the team’s media relations department. “He was a college defensive end, so some of the times having to drop, having to do some different things, playing special teams, so there’s a lot of room for him to grow.
“[Sawyer]’s getting it right now because he’s running down on special teams, he’s playing a lot of snaps. Once we get into the regular season, and his role can get a little bit more defined in terms of what he’s going to be doing on game day, we’ll really start to see him kind of accelerate”.
In other words, the Steelers are using this time right now to push Sawyer’s limits. They want to expose him to as much as they can, because they will ask him to do all these things. Once the games start to count, however, they will only ask Sawyer to eat small bites. As he develops a more robust appetite, they will expand his menu—and he’ll have already had a taste.
The Steelers selected Jack Sawyer in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft out of Ohio State. According to Sawyer, they were high enough on him that his agent said they tried to trade up for him. With T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, and Nick Herbig, they had no screaming need for an edge rusher. They just liked him that much, and thought that highly of his ceiling.
That is all the more reason not to rush him into something he isn’t ready for. But now is the time to expose him to as many things as he can handle. Sawyer is lifting heavy right now, and we can see signs of that. But once they lighten his load, it might feel even easier.
Quite frankly, it will be interesting to see what the Steelers’ initial plans are for Jack Sawyer. Knowing that they have Nick Herbig in the on-deck circle, will they start the rookie off as a specialist? The perception is that his strength is in the run game, though he can rush the passer, too. Will Herbig sub in on passing downs and Sawyer on run downs?
One thing we definitely know Sawyer will do is log triple-digit special teams snaps. Through two preseason games, he has already logged 33, so you do the math. The only Steelers with more are Carson Bruener, D’Shawn Jamison, and Sebastian Castro. Of the four, only Sawyer’s job doesn’t depend on what he does there. But that will be his primary responsibility this year. The Steelers already know what he can be if they develop him properly, and they’re willing to take their time.
