McCarthy Steelers D-Line
McCarthy Steelers D-Line
The Pittsburgh Steelers have invested heavily in the trenches in recent years through draft picks, particularly along the defensive line.
Now, entering the 2026 season, those investments are expected to pay off in a major way.
Cameron Heyward returns for another season, having earned yet another All-Pro accolade in 2025. He’ll be the key leader of the group, which is expecting significant Year 2 growth from Derrick Harmon and Yahya Black. Veteran Sebastian Joseph-Day brings experience, while great things are expected of Keeanu Benton fresh off a contract extension.
The Steelers — in particular first-year head coach Mike McCarthy — are expecting high-level play in the trenches this season. So much so that the offensive-minded McCarthy admitted earlier in the week that he expects the group to carry Pittsburgh this season.
“I love everything about the D-line. This D-line is as deep a group as I’ve been a part of,” McCarthy said, according to video via the team’s YouTube page. “Thinking back over the last three decades, it’s a group that I look to carry the team. O-line and D-line, this part of the country, this style of play, you’ve got to have it, and we’ve got it.
“I’m excited about our D-line.”
There’s a lot to be excited about.
While Heyward is up there in age and has a lot of mileage on his body to this point in his career, he’s showing no signs of slowing down. Power remains a massive part of his game, allowing him to remain a dominant run defender. He wasn’t able to put up the sack production he had in 2024, but he was a disruptive pass rusher once again, too.
Fortunately for Heyward, there’s a lot of help around him this season.
Harmon is healthy and appears geared up to take a big leap forward. He came on strong late last season and showed his ability as an impactful run defender, while tapping into the pass-rush skills that made him so highly regarded coming out of Oregon. Now that he’s adjusted to the speed and strength of the NFL, big things are expected of the former first-round pick.
There’s a lot of hype surrounding Black, too. He appears to have added weight and could give the Steelers a true nose tackle once again, one that eats up space and allows the linebackers to flow freely and make plays. If he can do that, the Steelers will really be in business.
It all comes down to Benton, though. That might seem unfair, but he signed a massive extension this summer, one that looks like a gamble right now. While he had a career-best 5.5 sacks last season, he’s inconsistent as a run defender and didn’t see much action in sub-package football. That should change this year under new coordinator Patrick Graham.
If Benton takes a significant step forward, the defensive line will be really difficult to deal with, especially with Joseph-Day able to play up and down the line, providing depth, and rookies Gabriel Rubio and Kevin Jobity Jr. as intriguing developmental pieces.
McCarthy should feel great about the position group. If things go the way many expect, they’ll lead the way defensively. And that, in turn, could carry the load for the team as a whole at the start of a new era.