Pittsburgh Steelers Team Preview 25-26

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  • By Jon Mosales

    Last Updated on June 17, 2025 1:08 pm by André Lemos | Published: June 5, 2025

     

    The Steelers constantly seem on the verge of breaking through, but they continue to either ignore or undervalue the most important position in sports.  Last season, they decided two half-measures was the way to go and for a while it almost worked.  Justin Fields led the team to a 3-0 start, but they failed to score 21 points and Russell Wilson finished the season, opening up the passing game, but PIT also lost the last four games of the season.  The Steelers continue to have pockets of greatness, but overall they leave fans wanting as they can never quite get the entire team firing on all cylinders at the same time.  The OL continues to be a work in progress and struggled last season with pass blocking, evidenced by a 38.6% pressure rate allowed in the regular season (29th in the NFL).  It seems that the Steelers care about what they care about and are determined to plug the big holes with mud and safety pins.

    The WR position which has long been a strength was ranked 31st in FPPG while receiving on 50% (28th) of the targets in the new, check-down offense.  The offense wasn’t explosive and was very deliberate, but they still ranked 9th in plays that went 20+ yards (55).  They were 4th in the league with a 49/51 run/pass split and targeted RBs 24% of the time, which was good for 2nd in the league.  Despite the giant variance in styles between Fields and Wilson, the Steelers stuck to their guns and didn’t alter the offensive philosophy regardless of who was under center.  The only real change was Wilson’s ability to get the ball downfield to George Pickens, who now plays in Dallas.  With Wilson, Fields and Pickens gone, will the Steelers continue with the methodical ball-control style that more often than not peaked at three points.  The offensive makeover wasn’t purely one-sided as they brought in potential superstar DK Metcalf and drafted Kaleb Johnson to replace the also departed Najee Harris.  The Steelers have revamped the entire offense, but it’s not like they are replacing a masterpiece.  Harris only rushed for six TDs and Pickens only caught three of his own while Fields/Wilson combined for only 21 passing TDs.  The problem is while the bar might be low, you still need to get over it to avoid total and utter failure.

    The Steelers are like many teams, a QB away and hopefully they don’t plan on entering the season with Mason Rudolph as the QB1.  They have been doing a dance with Aaron Rodgers all summer and while his last season was the Jets wasn’t successful, he’s still exponentially better than Rudolph or some other castoff.  After they traded for Metcalf and had Pickens, the idea of one last run with Rodgers and two deep threats was very appealing, but with Pickens gone, it’s back to a single WR centric offense.  Even with Rodgers, this offense will need to seek balance and not become the Jets of last year.  With Jaylen Warren getting a promotion from sidekick to alpha RB, it’s going to be very similar to last season because while he profiles as more explosive than Harris, he doesn’t have offense-altering upside.  Warren has all the tools to be an effective dual-back, think Chase Brown on CIN last season, but his season took too long to get going and it took him until Week 7 to even get 40 rushing yards in a game.  The Steelers have a solid team, but lack exceptional talent on the offensive side of the ball and it looks like they will struggle to score and be happy winning games 19-17 again.

    Player most likely to beat ADP: Jaylen Warren (ADP 94, RB33)

    I’ve always had a soft spot for Warren, but I worry about the lack of goal-line touches if the offense can’t get into the red zone.  I think Warren is a three-down back and just needs to stay healthy and dominate the snap share to easily soar over this ADP.

    Player most likely to fade based on ADP: DK Metcalf (ADP 54, WR25)

    No one loved Metcalf more than me the last few seasons, but something just isn’t right.  The perpetual in downgrade in QB from Wilson, to Geno, to now Rudolph doesn’t inspire confidence.  He was the WR34 last season and that was in a pass-first offense with a QB who could get the ball downfield.  Nothing about this season is appealing right now, but if they add Rodgers, I will adjust slightly.

    Late-round Flier that could blow up: Calvin Austin III (ADp 272,WR97)

    I don’t love this pick, but it’s a bet if Rodgers signs because while Metcalf is WR1, he doesn’t eat targets like some of the more elite WRs.  Austin has shown some promise as a slot receiver who can find gaps in defenses, but his ceiling is limited depending on who is under center.

     

    Writer’s Season Win Prediction: 6-11

    This team doesn’t have any true strengths.  Last season, you could argue the running back duo was the backbone of the team, but it wasn’t a powerhouse, ranking 21st with a 4.1 YPC.  The volume was high, but the result wasn’t ideal when you have the 4th most rushing attempts, but 19th most rushing TDs.  When your defense is elite, ranking 1st in forcing TOs and allowing first downs, you start most of your drives with great field position.  Sometimes a team does what it’s forced to do, not what it wants do to and PIT felt like that.  Pickens was by far the only reliable deep threat, but it became clear he wasn’t a favorite among the coaches as they shipped him out for pennies on the dollar.  The upgrade from Pickens to Metcalf looks massive on paper, but Metcalf had an underwhelming season, finishing as the WR32 which was the same as his rookie season.  There is no reason to believe Metcalf isn’t the same guy who finished was the WR7 as a sophomore, the problem is he’s going from a pass-heavy offense to a run-heavy one that is currently without a legitmate QB.  His ADP is around the WR26, which provides nice upside as he’s a WR1 going for a WR2 cost, but what is his ceiling is Rudolph is under center.  We’ve seen elite WRs still go off with below average QBs, think Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr, but which Metcalf are we getting?  He was clearly banged up over the second half of the season, never finishing with more than 70 rec yards after the Week 10 bye.  I like the upside with Rodgers as he still kept Davante Adams and Garrett Wilson as elite WRs and this time he will only need to do it with one.  This is still just pure speculation at this point because under there is a true QB at the helm, this entire offense is a stayaway.

    The real question is what to do at RB.  I was the biggest Warren fan last season and constantly bet his rec yards and from Week 11 to Week 17, he only had one game with less than four receptions.  That offers a nice floor in PPR leagues, but he also had zero rec TDs and only one rushing TD.  Regardless of how many yards you eat up, one TD is essentially worst-case scenario for any fantasy RB.  In Weeks 8-18, Warren averaged 9.6 touches and 66.2 total yards and that was with Harris playing, so there is a nice baseline for overall production and now he gets a usage promotion and should be closer to Harris’ 260 rushing attempts than his 120 last season.  The threat is we don’t know what role rookie Kaleb Johnson will have and we saw last season with the Buccs how a rookie RB can overtake the starting job if they are explosive enough.  I still love Warren even with the threat of Johnson and at an ADP of RB33, it feels a little like James Cook last season where some positive TD regression might make all the difference.


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    June 5, 2025, 10:10 am