Fresh off another All-Pro season, Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman Cameron Heyward finds himself inside the NFL’s top.100 players once again.
Heyward, who ranked No. 98 ahead of the 2024 season, lands at No. 83 ahead of the 2025 season. It marks the ninth time in his career he’s landed inside the top 100. He is now one of 16 players to do in the history of the top 100.
For Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen, Heyward continues to play at a high level and is a great leader for the franchise.
“The old man doing it good right now,” Queen said of Heyward in the Top-100 video, via NFL on X. “I just don’t, I can’t describe it. I think, what is it, Year 15 for him? It is just crazy.
“Boy, the way he approaches the game, the way he cares in the speeches, you can hear how much it means to him. I couldn’t think of a better leader for our defense, for our team, than that guy.”
Over the last decade, here is how Heyward has ranked in the top 100:
2024 — 98th
2023 — 45th
2022 — 42nd
2021 — 57th
2020 — 84th
2019 — 88th
2018 — 48th
2017 — Unranked
2016 — 88th
Despite the first-team All-Pro accolade in Year 15, ranking No. 83 overall seems a bit low for Heyward.
He dominated from start to finish last season, coming back from an injury-filled 2023 campaign to prove the doubters wrong once again. As a run defender Heyward was as good as ever. Most importantly, he got back to wrecking offenses as a pass rusher.
Heyward finished with 8.0 sacks last season, recording the most sacks of a defensive lineman 35 years or older since Chicago Bears Hall of Famer Steve McMichael recorded 10.5 sacks in the 1992 season. His bull rush and long arm remain deadly weapons from a pass-rushing perspective, something that Cleveland Browns’ left guard Joel Bitonio has had to deal with for years.
“He has this like left long arm that is better than anybody else in the league,” Bitonio said of Heyward.
The NFL Top 100 rankings video also showed clips of Bitonio from 2021, 2020 and 2019 talking about Heyward, praising his bull rush and his smarts. That’s a battle twice a year where there’s a great deal of respect and admiration.
On top of his prowess as a pass rusher, Heyward had a great year defending passes, too. No, really.
Heyward batted down 11 passes at the line of scrimmage, consistently getting his hands in passing lanes to disrupt plays. He finished the season with 71 tackles and 12 tackles for loss, too. Along with the All-Pro accolade, Heyward earned another Pro Bowl nod, adding to his Hall of Fame resume.
On my timeline all offseason. "Heyward's 35, he can't stay healthy, don't pay him, he's washed."
Tape against Atlanta says otherwise. 2nd-best DL of Week 1, per PFF. 97 still running strong. #Steelers pic.twitter.com/44494JvYLN
— Alex Kozora (@Alex_Kozora) September 10, 2024
Entering the 2025 season, he aims to prove it again as an aging interior defensive lineman. In an ESPN survey ranking players at their position from executives, scouts and coaches, Heyward barely cracked the top 10, landing at No. 10 as some surveys cited inevitable decline.
He’s healthy and coming off a dominant season. Doubt Heyward at your own peril moving forward. He thrives off of that, though.
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