The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2025 offseason practices concluded in the middle of June, and next up is the team’s annual training camp, which gets underway in the latter part of July at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe. Ahead of that, we will preview the team’s offseason roster, three players at a time. This Steelers roster preview, which includes an outlook for every player, will be done alphabetically by last name to make it easy to follow. This series figures to exceed 90 players as the team can carry 91 players during the offseason due to the allowance of one international player designation.
The next three players we preview ahead of the Steelers’ 2025 training camp are Jack Sawyer, Max Scharping, and Trey Sermon.
OLB Jack Sawyer: The Steelers selected Sawyer in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft out of Ohio State, and he fits in as an outside linebacker with the team.
For his college career, which spanned four seasons, Sawyer registered 144 total tackles, 29 tackles for loss, 23 sacks, one interception, six forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, and 11 passes defensed. He mainly played on the left side of the Ohio State defense throughout his college career.
Invited to the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine this past offseason, Sawyer measured in at 6042, 260 pounds with 31 3/4-inch arms and 9 3/4-inch hands. He did 21 reps on the bench, and that was the extent of what he did during the pre-draft phase.
Sawyer, a team captain for Ohio State in 2024, played nearly 700 defensive snaps. While Sawyer didn’t log a substantial number of special teams snaps as a senior player, he was charted as playing 119 in total throughout his college career. Most of those special teams snaps came on the punt return and field goal block units.
Sawyer enters the NFL with the Steelers having turned 23 years old in May.
Outlook: Could Sawyer ultimately become the next great outside linebacker for the Steelers? While that’s a plausible notion overall, don’t expect Sawyer to play a ton on defense throughout his rookie season. The Steelers’ top three outside linebackers for 2025 will once again be T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, and Nick Herbig. Barring injuries, Sawyer, at best, will be fourth on the depth chart in that position group to start the 2025 regular season.
As previously mentioned, Sawyer mainly played on the left side of the Ohio State defense throughout his college career, so it will be interesting to see if he gets much work on the right side throughout training camp and the preseason.
Sawyer improved as a defensive player every year while at Ohio State, and quite honestly, only his missed tackles during the 2024 season are the concerning part of his game as he enters the NFL. He is already a fairly stout player against the run as he arrives in Pittsburgh, and he should get even better as a pass rusher by learning from the likes of Watt, Highsmith, and Herbig. He is an easy player to be bullish on when it comes to a 2025 draft class member.
Sawyer should be able to log quite a share of special teams snaps in 2025, and thus there’s no reason to think he won’t be active for every Steelers game throughout his rookie season. I expect Sawyer to play around 130 defensive snaps as a rookie, but that amount could easily be greater should any of Watt, Highsmith, or Herbig miss time due to injuries.
G Max Scharping: 2024 was an interesting year for Scharping, who was initially selected by the Houston Texans in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft out of Northern Illinois.
Last summer, Scharping signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as an unrestricted free agent, but they cut him just before the start of the 2024 regular season. Scharping started the 2024 regular season on the practice squad of the Washington Commanders, and the Steelers signed him off that unit and thus onto their own active roster in early October.
Scharping was active for just two games during the 2024 regular season. He played seven offensive snaps, with three others coming on special teams. All of his offensive snaps for the Steelers came at left guard.
Since entering the NFL in 2019, Scharping has played in 81 regular-season games with 33 starts. He has logged 2,132 offensive snaps and another 339 more on special teams. However, he last started a game in 2021.
Scharping has played both guard positions in the NFL, as well as right tackle and even center. His natural NFL position is guard, however.
Outlook: While he has a lot of NFL experience to date, in addition to being a swing guard, Scharping will likely have a tough time making the Steelers’ 53-man roster later this summer. The Steelers only claimed him off the Commanders’ practice squad last season because G James Daniels was lost early in the season to an Achilles injury. Even after he joined the Steelers last season, Scharping was mainly a listed player on the team’s gameday inactive list.
The Steelers seemingly have Spencer Anderson as their primary swing guard for the 2025 season, Calvin Anderson as their primary swing tackle, and Ryan McCollum as the team’s backup center. Should all three of those offensive linemen wind up on the 53-man roster, that really only leaves one potential spot, two at best, open for Scharping to compete for this summer.
Obviously, should any injuries happen on the Steelers’ offensive line this summer, Scharping’s chances of making the initial 53-man roster should improve as a byproduct. Should Scharping wind up being cut as part of the team’s final transactions of the offseason, there’s always a chance he could be re-signed to the practice squad as a veteran addition to that unit to open the 2025 regular season.
RB Trey Sermon: The Steelers signed Sermon to a one-year veteran benefit contract in May, and that deal has a base salary of $1.17 million. He did not, however, receive a signing bonus in that deal.
Initially selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft out of Ohio State, Sermon appeared in nine games during his rookie season and started two. He totaled 41 carries for 167 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown in limited offensive playing time in 2021.
The 49ers moved on from Sermon prior to the start of the 2022 regular season, and the Philadelphia Eagles ultimately claimed him. He appeared in two games in 2022 with the Eagles and totaled two carries for 19 yards in limited offensive playing time.
Sermon spent the 2023 and 2024 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts. He appeared in 31 games and started three of those contests. In those two seasons, Sermon registered 319 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 91 carries. He was also credited with 19 receptions for another 122 yards.
Sermon has played in 42 regular-season games with five starts in his four-season NFL career. He has registered 505 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 134 total attempts. He also has 22 career receptions for another 138 yards, logging 468 offensive snaps in the NFL and 106 more on special teams.
Outlook: Now in Pittsburgh, Sermon joins a running back room that includes Jaylen Warren, Kenneth Gainwell, Cordarrelle Patterson, Evan Hull, rookie Kaleb Johnson, and rookie Max Hurleman. Johnson was obviously the team’s third-round draft pick this year, while Warren is expected to be the offense’s bell cow to open the 2025 regular season. Gainwell, more of a change-of-pace running back, was also added this past offseason via free agency.
Barring Warren, Johnson, and Gainwell getting injured this summer, Sermon will have an extremely tough time making the team’s 53-man roster after the preseason ends. While Sermon does have some experience on special teams since entering the NFL, he’s not considered a huge asset in that phase of the game at this point in his career.
As a former third-round draft pick out of Ohio State, Sermon at least has some pedigree attached to him, and thus, he very well could wind up having a nice training camp and preseason for the Steelers. Even if that happens, Sermon really seems best suited to wind up on another team’s 53-man roster by Week 1 or the Steelers’ practice squad if that doesn’t come to fruition.
Previous Posts In This Series:
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Calvin Anderson, Spencer Anderson, Calvin Austin III
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Keeanu Benton, Beanie Bishop Jr., Yahya Black
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Chris Boswell, Nick Broeker, Carson Bruener
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Sebastian Castro, Dylan Cook, Domenique Davis
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Brandin Echols, Daniel Ekuale, DeShon Elliott
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Troy Fautanu, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Zach Frazier
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Pat Freiermuth, Kenneth Gainwell, JJ Galbreath
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Derrick Harmon, Devin Harper, Malik Harrison
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Nick Herbig, Cameron Heyward, Connor Heyward
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Alex Highsmith, Cole Holcomb, Will Howard
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Evan Hull, Max Hurleman, D’Shawn Jamison
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Brandon Johnson, Kaleb Johnson, Quindell Johnson
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Cameron Johnston, Broderick Jones, Steven Jones
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Donte Kent, Miles Killebrew, Christian Kuntz
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — DeMarvin Leal, Logan Lee, Montana Lemonious-Craig
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Eku Leota, Isaiahh Loudermilk, Dean Lowry
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Ryan McCollum, Mason McCormick, Cameron McCutcheon
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Lance McCutcheon, Kyler McMichael, DK Metcalf
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Scotty Miller, Jeremiah Moon, Doug Nester
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Esezi Otomewo, Cordarrelle Patterson, James Pierre
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Joey Porter Jr., Patrick Queen, Mark Robinson
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Aaron Rodgers, Mason Rudolph, Ben Sauls
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