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 Aiden Williams, Ke’Shawn Williams and Payton Wilson.
G Aiden Williams: Signed by the Steelers this year as an undrafted free agent out of Minnesota-Duluth, Aiden Williams played in 40 games during a college career that spanned four seasons. He was first used as a tight end in college until the 2022-23 season, when the team asked him to switch to playing on the offensive line. Aiden Williams played mostly as a left tackle in college once he was moved to the offensive line, but he did see some limited playing time at guard as well.
Invited to the East-West Shrine Bowl this past offseason, Williams, who measured in at the all-star game event at 6055, 314-pounds with 32 1/4-inch arms and 9 3/8-inch hands, was asked to mainly flip between left and right guard while in Texas for that week of pre-draft showcasing.
During the pre-draft process, Aiden Williams indicated that he sees himself as an interior offensive lineman at the NFL level. He also said in an interview that he is learning center more this offseason as well, so that he can potentially play each of the five positions on the offensive line should he ever be asked to.
Outlook: As a small school prospect and developing offensive lineman, we can probably expect Aiden Williams to open up training camp this summer as a guard. His lack of arm length really dictates that path for him.
It will be interesting to see if the Steelers give Aiden Williams any practice time at center during training camp and the preseason. If that happens, perhaps he might have more longer-term upside as a backup player.
Overall, Aiden Williams really doesn’t have a chance when it comes to him making the 53-man roster out of the preseason, assuming he’s able to stay under contract that entire length of time. The best chance he has when it comes to sticking in Pittsburgh come Week 1 of the 2025 regular season will be as a member of the team’s practice squad. That will be quite an accomplishment if he achieves that.
WR Ke’Shawn Williams: The Steelers signed Ke’Shawn Williams as one of their main undrafted free agents earlier in the offseason, and that comes on the heels of him finishing his college career with Indiana in 2024. Prior to his one season at Indiana, Williams played four seasons at Wake Forest.
In 2024, Ke’Shawn Williams caught 39 passes for 448 yards and five touchdowns, and he rushed twice for another 27 yards. Over his four previous seasons at Wake Forest, Williams registered 107 receptions for 1,385 yards and five touchdowns to go along with three rushing attempts for 29 yards. Just 16 of Ke’Shawn Williams’ receptions during his college career went for 25 yards or longer.
Throughout his college career, Ke’Shawn Williams was mainly used as a slot wide receiver. He did, however, log a fairly decent share of offensive snaps lined up out wide.
Williams also returned 34 kickoffs during his college career for 679 yards, an average of 20 yards per return. He also recorded four punt returns over five college seasons for 72 yards. He was utilized some on the kickoff and punt coverage teams throughout his college career as well.
At his college pro day earlier this year, Ke’Shawn Williams measured in at 5090, 188-pounds with 30-inch arms and 9/3/4-inch hands. He reportedly ran his pro-day 40-yard-dash in 4.54-seconds, did six reps on the bench, and posted a vertical jump of 39-inches to go along with a broad jump of 10’1″. His short-shuttle time is listed as 4.34-seconds, and his three-cone time is listed as 6.98-seconds.
Outlook: The Steelers have a full wide receiver depth chart at this point of the offseason with several of those players being locks to make the Week 1 53-man roster barring injuries. In short, it’s really hard to see Ke’Shawn Williams competing for anything more than a practice squad spot throughout training camp and the preseason.
As far as the rest of the summer goes, look for Ke’Shawn Williams to be used mainly in the slot. He very well could get a chance or three to return kickoffs during the preseason.
Overall, Ke’Shawn Williams is an undersized wide receiver and one that lacks long speed. In short, he’s going to have to really have an impressive summer in order to stay in Pittsburgh as a member of the practice squad after the Steelers set their initial 53-man roster.
ILB Payton Wilson: The Steelers selected Wilson in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft out of North Carolina State and he went on to have an impressive rookie season with the team.
For the 2024 regular season, Wilson, an inside linebacker, registered 78 total tackles, three tackles for loss, two quarterback hits, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, one interception, and two passes defensed. In the lone Steelers playoff game last season, Wilson added six more total tackles, and one tackle for loss.
As far as Wilsons snap counts went in 2024, he logged 492 on defense and 301 more on special teams. He played an additional 27 snaps on defense in the lone playoff game along with 16 more on special teams.
Including the one playoff game, Wilson missed nine total tackles on the season, according to Pro Football Focus charting. PFF also has Wilson down for allowing 36 receptions for 240 yards on 43 times targeted for the entire 2024 season.
As expected, Wilson mostly aligned inside the box on defense in 2024, but he did play almost 35 snaps aligned in the slot.
Wilson’s 2024 season defensive grade from PFF is listed at 74.0. His run grade is listed as 62.0 and his coverage grade is 76.4. Overall, Wilson looked really good in a Steeler uniform as a rookie and especially for a player selected in the third round.
Outlook: With Wilson playing as much as he did in 2024, there’s now a good chance he logs a little more time on defense in 2025, especially after ILB Elandon Roberts left via free agency earlier in the offseason. While the Steelers did sign free agent ILB Malik Harrison during the offseason, Wilson still should have a fairly defined role in the defense in 2025.
Wilson needs to improve on getting off blocks at the second level in 2025. That was perhaps his biggest weakness during his rookie season. With this being his second NFL season, Wilson should be even more comfortable in the defense in 2025 and thus he should play even faster than he did as a rookie.
Overall, Wilson showed he could create splash plays as a rookie and that was evidenced by his four total tackles for loss, one interception and two forced fumbles. Six of Wilson’s 78 total tackles during the 2024 rookie season came on special teams as well. He should be expected to make a few more splash plays on defense in his second NFL season and the Steelers will likely have him playing a lot on special teams once again as well.
While Wilson certainly won’t be an every down defensive player for the Steelers in 2025, 600 total defensive snaps in his second season is certainly plausible. He will obviously log more defensive snaps than that, should either Harrison or Patrick Queen miss any playing time due to injuries.
Based on everything we saw Wilson do and not do in 2024, it’s hard to not get excited about the length of step he possibly will take forward in 2025. He was a fun player to watch in 2024 and that should be the case once again in 2025.
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.
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