The position group might not have looked all that good late in 2024 in the midst of the five-game losing streak to end a once-promising season, but the Pittsburgh Steelers boast an “elite unit” along the defensive line — which includes the outside linebackers — entering the 2025 season, Pro Football Focus believes.
In a piece highlighting the strongest and weakest teams at each position group, PFF cited the Steelers as having the strongest defensive line.
“The Steelers boasted the NFL’s top-graded defensive line last season. T.J. Watt is still at the top of his game as the only player who earned 90.0-plus PFF grades in run defense and as a pass rusher in 2024. Alex Highsmith wasn’t far behind with an 89.3 PFF pass-rush grade,” PFF writes. “Even at his advanced age, Cameron Heyward managed to rank second among defensive tackles with a 90.1 PFF overall grade.
“Add in contributions from Nick Herbig, Keeanu Benton and first-round pick Derrick Harmon, who led all FBS interior defenders in pressures last season, and the Steelers will once again carry an elite unit into the 2025 season.”
Last season, outside of how the season closed, the Steelers’ defensive front was quite good.
Heyward recorded 71 tackles, 8 sacks, 12 tackles for loss, 11 passes defensed and 56 pressures, finishing as PFF’s No. 1-graded defensive lineman at 90.3 overall. After signing a two-year extension before the start of the season, Heyward proved he was worth every penny, dominating from start to finish.
He got to the quarterback at a historic rate, too. Heyward’s eight sacks helped him put up a historic season for an interior defensive lineman 35 years or older. Those eight sacks are second-most ever by a defensive tackle his age or older, trailing only Hall of Famer Steve McMichael’s 10.5 in 1992.
Watt had a down year by his lofty standards, but he still found a way to impact games, punching the football out time and time again, leading the NFL in forced fumbles on the season with six.
He had just 11.5 sacks and 53 pressures, but he was sound against the run. He did disappear down the stretch after suffering an ankle injury against the Philadelphia Eagles, putting up back-to-back games in Week 18 and the AFC Wild Card Round loss without a single registered stat. But overall, he was quite good for much of the year.
Highsmith battled injuries that caused him to miss chunks of time, but when he was on the field, he was very good opposite Watt. Highsmith played in 11 of a possible 17 games, marking the fewest he’s played in a season in his career. He saw 525 snaps and finished among PFF’s 10 highest-graded EDGE defenders in football.
He generated an overall grade of 89.5, including a 79.7 against the run and an 89.7 pass-rush grade. He had 48 pressures as a pass rusher and recorded 26 run stops. In eight of the 11 games Highsmith played during the regular season, he generated at least four pressures rushing the passer.
Benton was up and down in his second year, while Herbig had moments off the bench but missed some time with a hamstring injury.
Despite being strong on paper, the Steelers needed to add to their defensive front coming off the 2024 season, and they did just that in the draft with Harmon, Yahya Black and Jack Sawyer. Harmon led the FBS in pressures by an interior defensive lineman in 2024 with 55 and is stout against the run. Black is a huge body who specializes as a run defender, while Sawyer just has the look of a Steeler, plays incredibly hard and finds ways to produce.
If all works out in 2025, the Steelers should once again have a great defensive front. It will need to be, too, because it will be heavily relied upon with question marks on offense.
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