Steelers defense
Steelers defense
The Pittsburgh Steelers defense didn’t live up to its star power last season. Despite having players like TJ Watt, Cam Heyward, Jalen Ramsey and Joey Porter Jr, the defense finished 26th in yards allowed 17th in points allowed.
The Steelers added some names in free agency during the offseason, but according to former NFL defensive lineman Leger Douzable, they didn’t address their biggest problem.
“I have some concerns about their defense,” Douzable said on CBS Sports HQ via YouTube. “You talked about them being able to get after the quarterback. They didn’t do it at a high clip like they’re accustomed to doing. And the age of their defense — this is one of the oldest defenses in football. But it is the highest-paid defense in football. They haven’t been that Steel Curtain defense over the last few years. So that’s my biggest concern.
“When you look at the collective age of a lot of their frontline starters, they’re getting up there in age,” Douzable continued. “A lot of guys are in that 30-plus-year-old range. Can that defense hold on enough when you’re talking about stopping a Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens? Stopping a Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals offense?”
In the offseason, Pittsburgh made a few notable defensive additions including CB Jamel Dean, DL Sebastian Joseph-Day and S Jaquan Brisker. Brisker, at age 27, is the youngest of that trio of new signings. In the draft, the Steelers selected CB Daylen Everette in the third round and DL Gabriel Rubio and S Robert-Spears Jennings in the seventh. All three have had varying levels of hype in training camp, but none should be counted on for major roles at deep position groups.
That’s all to say, there hasn’t been a youth movement on defense this offseason. A new coaching staff can hope to flip the script with the defense. After all, much of what plagued the defense a year ago was seemingly related to communication and poor fundamentals.
Douzable also mentioned the pass rush as a reason for concern. Pittsburgh finished sixth in the NFL in sacks with 48 in 2025. Not exactly a cause for concern, but nothing like the Steelers’ dominant 2017-21 stretch when they led the NFL in sacks in each of those five seasons.
TJ Watt had a quiet year by his standards by only collecting seven sacks. Alex Highsmith led the team with 9.5 sacks and Nick Herbig had a breakout season in a limited role with 7.5 sacks. Now that all three outside linebackers are making big money, it’s a reasonable expectation that the defense should get more pressure on the quarterback in 2026.
With Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow in the division, defense will always be a key for the Steelers. Pittsburgh doesn’t necessarily need to have the best defense in football, but it needs to be significantly better than it was a year ago. The aging core can’t afford much regression.
If the new coaching staff can clean up the communication and fundamental issues while getting more out of the pass rush, the defense could still be a strength. If not, Pittsburgh’s lack of a significant youth movement could become a much bigger concern as the season progresses.