Though he’s getting up there in age at 36 years old and entering Year 15 in the NFL, Pittsburgh Steelers star defensive lineman and team captain Cameron Heyward remains among the NFL’s elite.
He proved that once again in 2024, earning a first-team All-Pro accolade while being a force throughout the season, both against the run and as a pass rusher.
Playing a physically demanding position like defensive line, one would think that a guy of Heyward’s age and mileage would start to slow down, but he’s done anything but. Now, entering the 2025 season, Heyward remains among the elite of the elite when it comes to interior defensive line defenders.
In the latest Pro Football Focus rankings highlighting the top 32 at the position, Heyward was right there with the best of them, landing at No. 3 overall behind only Kansas City’s Chris Jones and the New York Giants’ Dexter Lawrence.
“Even at 35 years old, Heyward was stellar in 2024. His 90.1 single-season PFF overall grade ranked second only to Chris Jones,” PFF’s Trevor Sikkema writes. “His 85.9 PFF pass-rush grade was the best mark of his career, too.”
Stellar is a great way to describe just how good Heyward was last season, especially after there was quite a bit of questions surrounding him entering the season with his age and coming off an injury-filled 2023 season. The Steelers didn’t show those concerns, though, giving him a two-year extension and then seeing him go out and dominate.
Heyward recorded 71 tackles, 8 sacks, 12 tackles for loss, 11 passes defensed and 56 pressures in 2024, finishing as PFF’s No. 1-graded defensive lineman at 90.3 overall.
Heyward’s 8 sacks helped him put up a historic season for a veteran interior defensive lineman. Those 8 sacks are second-most ever by a defensive tackle his age or older, trailing only Hall of Famer Steve McMichael’s 10.5 in 1992. Nothing like making history as a 35-year-old defensive lineman.
Along with his 8 sacks, Heyward continued to show off his great power throughout the season, dominating against the run. He was an immovable object in the middle of the Steelers’ defense, one who controlled the line of scrimmage over and over again. He was a menace at the line of scrimmage, getting his hands up in throwing lanes and batting down 11 passes, which is an absurd number for a defensive lineman.
At some point, Father Time will catch up with Heyward, like it does with everyone. But right now, there are no signs of Heyward slowing down as he continues to build a Hall of Fame resume. He remains the elite of the elite, and for good reason.
It should be more of the same in 2025.
Heyward wasn’t the only Steeler to crack the top 32 in the interior defender rankings, either. Third-year pro Keeanu Benton finds himself at No. 31 overall, just ahead of Philadelphia’s Moro Ojomo to close the rankings.
“Benton’s 69.5 PFF overall grade in 2024 placed 36th among interior defenders. He put together three games with 85.0-plus PFF overall grades,” Sikkema writes. “While his 76.8 PFF pass-rush grade was slightly lower than that of his rookie season, he recorded nearly the same number of pressures (23 compared to 24).”
It’s not a surprise that Benton landed among the top 32 in the rankings, considering he’s one of the better young pieces on the interior in the NFL. That said, he’s coming off of an up-and-down second season, struggling against the run for much of the season but taking a step forward as a pass rusher.
On the year, Benton had just one sack, but he generated 23 pressures and a pass-rush grade of 76.8 from PFF.
The numbers from a pass-rush perspective were slightly disappointing, considering what he flashed in his rookie season, and as a run defender, Benton was a mess. He had a grade of just 45.3 against the run and wasn’t as good as he was as a rookie, though he did have 22 run stops, up from 16 as a rookie.
However, he was out of his gap quite a few times and wasn’t that penetrating, dominant force he was at times as a rookie.
Second-year slumps happen. Benton went through a tough season, but there’s plenty of reason to believe he’ll bounce back in Year 3. He’ll be counted on to take a significant step forward in 2025, especially as the Steelers are rebuilding along their defensive line and have invested in youth up front.
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