Rookie OLB Jack Sawyer fits the Steelers — and vice versa

Jack Sawyer can relate to his new team. And not just because of the culture or scheme fit.

A native of the Columbus area who played at Ohio State, Sawyer went 0-4 against what Central Ohioans refer to as “That School Up North.” Michigan.

The Pittsburgh Steelers, meanwhile, this past winter went 0-2 against, well, That Team Southeast in December and January meetings.

“I already played in the biggest rivalry in college,” Sawyer, an outside linebacker, said after the Steelers made him a fourth-round pick. “And I’m super fired up to experience this rivalry now in the NFL.”

That the Steelers selected Sawyer at No. 123 overall is connected to how the Steelers were pummeled by the AFC North rival Baltimore Ravens late in the season.

The Steelers allowed 519 rushing yards in those defeats: one that cost them a chance to clinch the division title and the next one in the playoffs to end their season.

The Steelers have made it clear that shoring up the run defense was a priority of the offseason in general and this past weekend’s draft in particular.

“(Sawyer) helps us in that area,” defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said of the run defense. “When you look at him, he’s a smart guy. He understands the game. I think one of those things, that’s how guys have a knack for it. They really study it. They understand the game, they understand the situations, and he takes advantage of all that instead of just playing.

“There’s a difference between just running around playing and understanding the situation you’re in and being able to apply that as the game goes.”

In Pro Football Focus grading among power-conference edge defenders against the run in 2023, the 6-foot-4, 260-pound Sawyer ranked second best in the country. As a senior in 2024, he fell to 10th among all edge defenders at the 65 power programs, but he did so during a season in which he prioritized improving his pass rushing.

A career-high nine sacks ensued, and the high-level run defense remained.

To Steelers general manager Omar Khan, coach Mike Tomlin and Austin, it was no surprise Sawyer set out to eliminate weaknesses in his game.

#Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin on Jack Sawyer:

"Love Jack Sawyer, it's easy to love not only in terms of his resume, but his relationship with the game..a lot of these guys represent Steeler DNA and I think that's indicative of Jack Sawyer." #Buckeyes pic.twitter.com/XEUHe2ViW9

— Kellyanne Stitts (@KellyanneStitts) April 27, 2025

“Love Jack Sawyer,” Tomlin said. “It’s easy to love him, not only in terms of his resume but his relationship with the game, his approach to football business, how he’s viewed and received by his teammates. As Omar mentioned, a lot of these guys represent Steeler DNA, and I think that’s really indicative of Jack Sawyer.”

By the sound of it, Pittsburgh, likewise, has Sawyer DNA. In at least one way, literally so.

Sawyer’s grandfather, Craig Shade, was a corner infielder and outfielder in the Pirates’ farm system some 55 years ago.

That’s not why Sawyer has always felt drawn to the Steelers, but it certainly doesn’t hurt. Growing up in Pickerington, Ohio — about 20 miles southeast of Ohio State and 175 miles west of Pittsburgh — the family of whom Sawyer called his best friend was, as he put it, “the biggest Steelers fans you can probably find in Columbus, Ohio.”

“So, yeah, I grew up watching the Steelers, watching all those teams and the defenses and the winning history,” Sawyer said. “Coach Tomlin never having a losing season. Just always great teams. Fired up about that.”

Sawyer was added to the roster, initially, as no better than the No. 4 outside linebacker. Long the franchise’s glory position on defense, the Steelers have at OLB a perennial All-Pro in T.J. Watt, a sidekick opposite him playing on a $68 million extension in Alex Highsmith and a pass rushing whiz already as a backup to both in Nick Herbig (8½ sacks in roughly a half season’s worth of career defensive snaps).

Still, in part because of his projected excellence on special teams, the Steelers saw the selection of Sawyer as more than just a luxury.

“We spent a lot of time with him,” Khan said, referencing the pre-draft process. “He just fits here, and it made sense. We had a really good grade on him, and it was hard to pass up at that point (in Round 4).”