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 next week 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 Darnell Washington, T.J. Watt, and Julius Welschof.
TE Darnell Washington: Selected by the Steelers in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft out of Georgia, Washington had a better 2024 season than his rookie year.
Washington registered 19 receptions during the regular season for 200 yards and a touchdown on 25 targets. His longest reception in 2024 was 29 yards. In the Steelers’ lone playoff game last season, Washington caught one pass for nine yards. As for Washington’s playing time in 2024, he logged 584 regular-season snaps on offense and 85 more on special teams.
As expected, most of Washington’s offensive snaps in 2024 came with him lined up as an inline tight end and predominantly within personnel groupings that included two or more tight ends on the field at the same time.
Overall, Washington’s blocking was much better in 2024 than it was in 2023, especially in the running game. His overall offensive grade from Pro Football Focus last season was 71.2, up from 47.4 in 2023. Washington, however, was charged by PFF for allowing two sacks in 2024 and five total pressures.
Washington likely would have graded out even better in 2024 had he not been penalized five times. Two of those penalties were for holding, two were for false starts, and one was for unnecessary roughness. Two of those five penalties went down as drive stallers for the Steelers’ offense.
As far as Washington’s usage on special teams in 2024, he only played on kickoff and punt returns in addition to field goal and extra-point attempts.
Outlook: Washington will obviously be on the Steelers’ 53-man roster once again in 2025 and his role on offense probably won’t change all that much. The Steelers did add TE Jonnu Smith via a summer trade, and he will obviously be used quite extensively in the passing game along with veteran TE Pat Freiermuth.
While the Steelers could probably stand to use Washington a little more in the passing game in 2025, it’s hard to imagine him greatly exceeding the 25 targets that he received in 2024. He did show in 2024 that he can be used down the seam in the middle of the field and farther than five yards past the line of scrimmage as well. That all noted, Washington will mostly be used on offense in personnel groupings that feature two or more tight ends with him mostly being attached to the end of the line of scrimmage.
The Steelers want to run the ball more effectively in 2025 and hopefully Washington can play a huge role in that coming to fruition. He still has room to improve as a run blocker in 2025, even after taking a nice step forward in that phase of his game in 2024. He has the potential to exit the 2025 season as one of the NFL’s best run-blocking tight ends with a little more refinement in that area of his game.
Expect Washington to continue to play in limited fashion on special teams in 2025 once again as well.
If Washington can improve all areas of his blocking game in 2025 and keep his penalties to a minimum, he very well could have a career year, even though he’s unlikely to exceed 30 receptions for the season.
OLB T.J. Watt: The 2024 season certainly wasn’t the overall best NFL season for Watt. The league’s former Defensive Player of the Year only registered 11.5 sacks to go along with 61 total tackles, 19 tackles for loss 27 quarterback hits, six forced fumbles, four passes defensed, and two fumble recoveries in regular-season play.
The most notable thing when it comes to Watt’s 2024 play was how he performed down the stretch and specifically in the team’s final three regular-season games and lone playoff contest. Watt registered just seven total tackles in those four games with one tackle for loss and one pass defensed. Against the Baltimore Ravens in the playoffs, Watt was completely kept off the stat sheet, which is obviously a rarity for him throughout his NFL career.
In the Week 15 game against the Philadelphia Eagles, Watt registered what would wind up being his final two sacks and two quarterback hits of the 2024 season. However, he did sustain a lower left ankle injury during that contest and perhaps that played a part in how he performed the remainder of the season.
For the 2024 regular season, Watt played 938 snaps on defense and 38 more on special teams. As usual, he mostly played on the left side of the defense. In the Steelers’ lone playoff game last season, Watt played 63 of a possible 74 snaps on defense. Watt’s overall playing time in the final three regular-season games was shortened just a bit compared to the rest of the year and his ankle injury was probably the reason for that.
Outlook: Ahead of the Steelers’ 2025 training camp getting underway, Watt is hoping to sign another lucrative contract extension before Week 1 of the regular season and one that could result in him being the highest-paid non-QB in the NFL. As of the time of this post, a lot of people are wondering if Watt won’t report for the start of training camp because of his contract situation.
Should Watt ultimately report for the start of training camp a week from now and without him having signed an extension, he’ll likely hold-in the same way that he did in 2021. Regardless of what his camp plans wind up being, it’s hard to imagine Watt not signing a contract extension prior to the start of the 2025 regular season. That means it’s very unlikely that the Steelers will trade Watt in the next month and a half as well.
Assuming that Watt is signed, sealed, and ready to go come Week 1 of the 2025 regular season, the expectations will be for him to have a year much like the one he had in 2023, if not better. That means high double-digit sacks and several forced turnovers to go along with multiple other big plays in opponents’ backfields. In short, Watt will be expected to be a game-wrecker once again and for a full season at that.
On the surface, it seems like we could see Watt play a little bit more on the right side in 2025 as that seemed to be his overall thoughts and message after the 2024 season ended. Watt’s success in 2025 will obviously be partly decided by how healthy he can remain throughout the team’s 17-game schedule. He’s been nicked up quite a bit the last several seasons.
On the heels of the Steelers selecting OLB Jack Sawyer during the 2025 NFL Draft, they might be wise to cut down Watt’s playing time just a bit throughout the regular season, especially with fellow OLB Nick Herbig seemingly being able to handle a slight increase in playing time in 2025.
If things go well in 2025, Watt could once again be in the running for the NFL’s annual Defensive Player of the Year award. Anything short of that would be considered by most to be a huge disappointment when it comes to Watt and especially if he winds up signing a very lucrative contract extension ahead of the 2025 regular season getting underway.
OLB Julius Welschof: The Steelers originally signed Welschof as an undrafted free agent in 2024 after he played his college football for the Michigan Wolverines and Charlotte 49ers. A Germany native, he was issued an international roster spot as part of the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program.
Last year during the preseason, Welschof, who measured in at his 2024 pro day at 6065, 257 pounds with 32 1/4-inch arms and 10 1/4-inch hands, played 122 snaps on defense and 18 more on special teams in three contests. He finished the preseason with four total tackles, three sacks, three tackles for loss and three quarterback hits.
Welschof suffered a knee injury in the 2024 preseason finale and unfortunately landed on the team’s Reserve/Injured list to start the regular season. The Steelers later waived Welschof from the Reserve/Injured list with an injury settlement. After he recovered from his injury, Welschof was signed to the Steelers’ practice squad in November. Later in the season, the Steelers shifted Welschof’s status from a practice squad player to an international practice squad player.
After the 2024 season ended, the Steelers signed Welschof to a Reserve/Future contract and then designated him as an international player once again so he would not count against the team’s 90-man offseason roster.
Outlook: With one full training camp and preseason under his belt, it will be interesting to see Welschof go through the process of both once again this summer. Quite honestly, Welschof looked rather good as a depth outside linebacker last year during the preseason, which ended with him being second on the team in sacks behind fellow OLB Nick Herbig.
Obviously, the Steelers are stacked at the outside linebacker position this summer, especially now that the team has added Jack Sawyer out of Ohio State via the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Regardless of the summer that Welschof might wind up having, he seems destined to start the 2025 regular season on the team’s practice squad with the international player designation.
Per NFL rules, the Steelers will be able to elevate Welschof to their gameday active/inactive roster a maximum of three times throughout the 2025 season even if he is assigned the team’s international player on the practice squad.
In closing, unless the Steelers run into a situation where Welschof is needed for a 2025 regular-season game as a practice squad elevation, the preseason might be the last time we see him play. Assuming he stays healthy, Welschof is likely to spend all season on the Steelers’ practice squad.
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
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Jack Sawyer, Max Scharping, Trey Sermon
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Isaac Seumalo, Ben Skowronek, Jacob Slade
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Darius Slay, Roc Taylor, DJ Thomas-Jones
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Skylar Thompson, Juan Thornhill, Cory Trice Jr.
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Corliss Waitman, Gareth Warren, Jaylen Warren
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