While much of the world is focused on the exciting 2026 World Cup, we roll along here in the dog days of summer at Steelers Depot.
There’s very little happening across the league as minicamps have wrapped up and teams have hit the road for much-needed pre-training camp vacations. That includes the Pittsburgh Steelers, who had productive OTAs and minicamps before taking down time until reporting to Latrobe in late July.
For now, we continue our Ranking The Steelers’ Starters series. In case you missed the first two parts, you can check out No. 24-22 and No. 21-19.
Here is my projected Steelers starting lineup, kicker and punter included, for the regular-season opener against the Atlanta Falcons.
*Italics indicates player has been used in the series.
OFFENSE
QB — Aaron Rodgers
RB — Jaylen Warren
WR — DK Metcalf
WR — Michael Pittman Jr.
WR — Germie Bernard
TE — Darnell Washington
LT — Troy Fautanu
LG — Mason McCormick
C — Zach Frazier
RG — Spencer Anderson
RT — Dylan Cook
DEFENSE
DE — Cameron Heyward
NT — Keeanu Benton
DE — Derrick Harmon
OLB — Alex Highsmith
ILB — Patrick Queen
ILB — Payton Wilson
OLB — T.J. Watt
CB — Jamel Dean
CB — Joey Porter Jr.
S — Jalen Ramsey
S — DeShon Elliott
SPECIAL TEAMS
K — Chris Boswell
P — Cameron Johnston
Here’s how the Ranking The Steelers’ Starters series looks so far.
No. 24 — Cameron Johnston, P
No. 23 — Germie Bernard, WR
No. 22 — Spencer Anderson, RG
No. 21 — Dylan Cook, RT
No. 20 — Keeanu Benton, NT
No. 19 — Payton Wilson, ILB
Now that you’re all caught up on the series and the players who will be highlighted, let’s dive into the latest Ranking The Steelers’ Starters piece, focusing on No. 18-16.
No. 18 — PATRICK QUEEN, ILB
Coming off a rough season, it’s hard to slot Patrick Queen any higher than No. 18. After all, he ranked No. 16 coming off the 2025 season, and the Steelers made major improvements to the roster around him, so a slight slip down the board makes some sense.
Sure, Queen’s stats looked pretty good last season with 120 tackles, eight tackles for loss, one sack, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. But he missed a team-high 28 tackles, was a mess in coverage and really wasn’t all that effective against the run. That led to some trade talks in the offseason regarding the veteran linebacker, which seems to have upset him.
This feels like Queen’s final season in Pittsburgh. He needs to have a major bounce-back year under new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham. The scheme and the play calling should be better. The onus will be on him improving.
No. 17 — JAYLEN WARREN, RB
There’s a lot of talk about Pittsburgh’s backfield running through Rico Dowdle in 2026, especially given his familiarity with Mike McCarthy. But Warren is the best back on the roster and can do it all.
This feels a little low in the rankings for him, but he did come in at No. 14 after the 2025 season, so it’s not a huge fall. I’m very curious to see what his usage and overall role is this season though. Last year, Warren nearly cracked 1,000 rushing yards as Kenneth Gainwell took on more of the pass-catching and third-round role within Arthur Smith’s offense.
Now, with McCarthy running the offense, could Warren flip to the third-down role and handle pass-catching and pass protection duties? That seems very possible, allowing Dowdle to be the hammer between the tackles. Still, I expect another strong year from Warren.
No. 16 — DARNELL WASHINGTON, TE
Yes, he just signed a massive contract extension, and McCarthy is expecting a big year for the massive tight end. But I had a very hard time finding the right place to slot him in the rankings.
He’s an elite level in-line blocking tight end, that much is clear. He could be a tackle if he wanted to. As a pass catcher last season, Washington showed real flashes of being a game-changing tight end. But it was too far and few between. Will that change this season? That seems unlikely, especially with Pat Freiermuth still in the fold and the Steelers expressing the desire to get him more work as a pass catcher.
I would like to see Washington become more of a red-zone weapon with his size and length.
This ranking could make me look foolish after the season, but it’s where I feel most comfortable slotting him right now. He’s a good player and the Steelers did well to lock him up long term. But there are more questions than answers regarding his role and usage right now, making it hard to project further out.
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