All five healthy rookies on the active roster played in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 25-10 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. Yahya Black and Derrick Harmon each played the most snaps that they’ve in a while, and Kaleb Johnson managed to get a couple carries.
As always, I looked at every snap from the Steelers’ rookie class to analyze their performance and ultimately assign a grade.
Week 10 – At Los Angeles Chargers
DT Derrick Harmon
Snaps: 40 on defense (54.8 percent), 8 on special teams
PFF Grades: 72.7 defense, 60.1 special teams
Harmon tied his season high of tackles with four, including a pair of run stops. He didn’t generate any pressure in his 19 pass rush snaps, but he still had a solid day of assignment-sound football, which is what the Steelers often need from their defensive linemen.
He continues to flash nice moves with his hands and feet to get penetration. On the play below, he used a swim move and occupied two blockers to create a mess in the runner’s intended hole. He was knocked down to the ground by a single-leg tackedown that probably could have been flagged, but popped right back up to get in on the tackle.
There were times throughout the game where he didn’t win with his length and had trouble disengaging from blocks with runs going through his gap. He could stand to win with his length a bit more consistently, or figure out a backup plan when he doesn’t.
Week 10 Grade: C+
2025 GPA: 2.81
RB Kaleb Johnson
Snaps: 4 on offense (7.7 percent), 0 on special teams
PFF Grade: 71.5 offense
Johnson had two carries for three yards. The negative run wasn’t really his fault with Darnell Washington failing to kick his man out as the lead blocker in motion. His other run was decisive as he burst through the hole for five yards. Not a ton to look at, but they are at least trying to keep him involved.
Week 10 Grade: C
2025 GPA: 1.40
OLB Jack Sawyer
Snaps: 10 on defense (13.7 percent), 22 on special teams
PFF Grades: 61.4 defense, 37.3 special teams
He only played 10 snaps, so there wasn’t a lot to look at. But he did fail to set the edge on an 11-yard run around the left end for Kimani Vidal. His technique was fine for the most part, but he was perhaps a bit slow on play recognition to disengage from the block and at least force Vidal wider to go out of bounds before he turned the corner.
Week 10 Grade: D+
2025 GPA: 2.26
DT Yahya Black
Snaps: 24 on defense (32.9 percent), 10 on special teams
PFF Grades: 91.0 defense, 59.9 special teams
Black played his most snaps since Week 3, and that included a season-high six snaps as a true nose tackle. With Daniuel Ekuale out, hopefully we see more of that. Look at him eat up two blocks and swallow up the running back for no gain here on first down.
Black will need to improve at keeping his feet. That is priority No. 1 for a defensive lineman, and he struggled with that at times in this game, but he had a strong day in run defense.
Week 10 Grade: B
2025 GPA: 2.07
LB Carson Bruener
Snaps: 0 on defense (0 percent), 19 on special teams
PFF Grade: 75.8 special teams
Bruener notched his 10th special teams tackle this season teaming up with Connor Heyward. He almost overran his lane, but used a blocker to help reroute him back the right way.
Week 10 Grade: C
2025 GPA: 2.60
Check out previous report cards here:
Week 1: at Jets
Week 2: vs Seahawks
Week 3: at Patriots
Week 4: vs Vikings
Week 6: vs Browns
Week 7: at Bengals
Week 8: vs Packers
Week 9: vs Colts
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