There is perhaps no bigger leap in a young player’s development than from Year 1 to Year 2. The distractions and uncertainty of the pre-draft process are gone, replaced by a full offseason dedicated to actual football. With an NFL season already behind them, second-year players know what to expect and how to prepare for what’s ahead. Some of the 2025 Pittsburgh Steelers draft class are locks to make the team, but a handful need to prove their worth this summer to make the 53-man roster.
Bob Labriola of Steelers.com listed four second-year players who need to show out this summer.
“In my opinion, there are 4 second-year players who will have to have a solid and consistent camp/preseason to end up with a spot on the 53-man roster,” Labriola wrote. “S Sebastian Castro, QB Will Howard, RB Kaleb Johnson, and CB/PR Donte Kent.”
All four of those players had competition added via the draft, which means all four have much to prove to make the roster.
S Sebastian Castro
Pittsburgh has already cut Castro once. He would be wise not to forget that as he competes with Darnell Savage and Robert Spears-Jennings for one or two spots at the bottom of the safety depth chart.
Last year, the Steelers re-signed Castro to their practice squad where he got poached by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They obviously see some potential in him as they claimed him in November after the Buccaneers waived him from their 53-man roster. He was initially expected to circle back to the Buccaneers’ practice squad.
Castro is not the most athletically gifted safety in the world. At 5112, 203 pounds, he is slightly undersized. And his 4.61-second 40-yard dash time leaves some athleticism to be desired. That’s why he went undrafted, but his college tape pointed to a player who could carve out a role in the NFL.
He “flashed” throughout spring practices, but so did his biggest competition in Spears-Jennings. Who can contribute more on special teams? And who has a better chance to develop into an impact defender? It should be one of the more spirited camp battles this year.
QB Will Howard
He’s being given every opportunity to win the backup QB job over Mason Rudolph, but don’t forget that one has 1,484 NFL snaps of experience while the other doesn’t even have one in the preseason. Even if the Steelers seem to have a preferred outcome, they won’t just hand him the job based on potential.
Howard has to show that he can get Pittsburgh out of stadiums with a win if Aaron Rodgers goes down in the middle of a game. And if Rodgers misses a game, as he did a year ago, Howard has to be able to give the Steelers a fighting chance.
Drew Allar won’t threaten for the QB2 job, but he also won’t be cut as an early third-round rookie with significant upside. Keeping four QBs is unusual, which sets up a backup-or-bust scenario for Howard.
He has to prove McCarthy and all the offseason buzz right.
RB Kaleb Johnson
Johnson was being talked about as the key to unlock Arthur Smith’s offensive system this time last year. Yet he only got a handful of snaps and carries as a rookie, and is best known by Steelers fans as the player who potentially cost them the Week 2 game against the Seattle Seahawks with a mental error on special teams.
Pittsburgh added potential starter Rico Dowdle, and a couple depth options with special teams upside in veteran Travis Homer and rookie Eli Heidenreich. If Johnson doesn’t have a spot in the starting rotation with Jaylen Warren and Dowdle, and he doesn’t offer anything on special teams, where exactly does he fit? He has to show enough upside to make himself a hard cut.
I left him off my first 53-man roster prediction for a reason.
CB/PR Donte Kent
Omar Khan was excited about landing Kent late in the 2025 draft, revealing how much Kent tape he watched through the pre-draft process. The upside is there, but a pair of significant injuries sidelined him his entire rookie season. How ready will he be to compete for a role? With a crowded CB room and a return specialist drafted in the fourth round, Kent is on the outside looking in, absent a massive training camp performance.
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