Although the Pittsburgh Steelers don’t have a defensive-minded head coach anymore, they still place a premium on that side of the ball. There’s a new man in charge of their defense, and plenty of new depth players across it. We’ll see if it develops the way they hope, but there are some reasons for optimism.
“I feel like we have the potential to be the best, to be top five, top three, to get back to what Pittsburgh is used to with their defense being on top,” S Jaquan Brisker said via Mark Kaboly in an article posted Thursday. “We want to be a top-five defense, and that should be the mindset. We got talent everywhere, you know, from the d line, and we got dead linebackers, we got that, corners, nickel, safeties. We have depth, a lot of moving parts, and we are deep. We have a dope coaching staff, too.”
The last time a Steelers defender made this bold of a claim, it didn’t age too well. During training camp last year, Juan Thornhill said the Steelers’ defense had a chance to become the best of all-time.
For many reasons, that didn’t happen. Pittsburgh hoped a CB trio of Joey Porter Jr., Jalen Ramsey and Darius Slay would carry the secondary. Slay didn’t make it to the second half of the season, and Ramsey moved to safety due, in part, to injuries. The pass rush also wasn’t quite as consistent as the team hoped, with no players reaching double-digit sacks.
However, those things certainly could improve in 2026. Porter has turned into one of the better corners in the league, and Jamel Dean is a quality starter opposite him. The Steelers also signed Brisker, who gives them a three-headed safety tandem alongside Ramsey and DeShon Elliott. Brisker and Ramsey especially could see work in plenty of different ways. Pittsburgh also now has three highly paid edge rushers, and new DC Patrick Graham has messed around with that position in past years.
Graham could be the most important addition to the Steelers’ defense. Overseen by Mike Tomlin and Teryl Austin, the Steelers were too predictable on defense last year. Graham’s never led an elite defense before, but he’s shown an ability to base his scheme around his personnel, rather than forcing it into one specific system. That’s at least more than what the Steelers did last year.
Given how highly paid the Steelers are on defense, one would hope it becomes a top-five unit in the league. But if it looks anything close, it’s still a big improvement from 2025. One which Brisker thinks could be in the cards.
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