Tim Benz: For 2025 Steelers, development of young core outweighs importance of veteran additions

For those who are hopeful about the 2025 Pittsburgh Steelers ending the franchise’s current playoff-win drought at eight seasons, much of that optimism is centered around new components on the team.

Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf, Jonnu Smith and Kaleb Johnson have been added on offense. Jalen Ramsey, Darius Slay, Brandin Echols, Derrick Harmon and Juan Thornhill are new faces on defense.

In reality, though, the Steelers’ path to postseason success is much more incumbent on the improvement of those who already were here.

Specifically, Joey Porter Jr., Keeanu Benton, Patrick Queen, Roman Wilson, Calvin Austin and, most importantly, those four young starters along the offensive line.

Not to mention T.J. Watt, who has a brand new, fat contract but disappeared at the end of last season.

“I feel like I got a lot better,” Wilson said during last month’s minicamp. “The coaches did a great job in helping me develop. I think you can see it. I feel good.”

For all the attention that has been paid to the acquisitions of Rodgers, Metcalf, Johnson, Slay, Thornhill and Ramsey, we have to ask if they will all be better than their predecessors.

That’s easier presumed than achieved when you consider Russell Wilson and Justin Fields started 10-3 at quarterback. Najee Harris had a 1,000-yard season at running back. George Pickens was tracking to blow beyond that same number at receiver before his hamstring injury. Donte Jackson was part of six turnovers, and Fitzpatrick played more than 1,000 snaps to go along with 96 tackles.

Whatever faults those outgoing players might have had, their replacements need to at least meet those standards before pushing the bar higher and aiding the Steelers in their quest for a playoff win for the first time since 2016.

Porter Jr. needs to achieve the promise he showed as a rookie in Year 3 of his career. It didn’t consistently manifest in Year 2. Queen has to prove worthy of his $41 million contract. Wilson has to contribute after ostensibly redshirting as a rookie. We keep hearing how good Benton is going to be. We need to actually start seeing it on a regular basis.

And then there is the offensive line. That’s where improvement can really be measured.

Three members of the 2024 draft class (Troy Fautanu, Zach Frazier and Mason McCormick) were linemen. Fautanu got injured in Game 1 of the season, never to be seen again. McCormick and Frazier logged more than 900 snaps each, standing out early in the season before fading with the rest of the team after Thanksgiving because of injury and/or fatigue, along with a step up in competition.

If that collective can make the Year 2 leap Mike Tomlin so frequently talks about, they’ll provide a platform from which all of those skill-position players previously discussed actually can do some damage.

“We’ve been developing, and it is definitely time to step up. We are excited. We are ready. We are going to keep attacking every day. And the result will keep getting better,” McCormick said during offseason practice sessions.

All of that is said without even bringing up Broderick Jones, whose regression in his second season was one of the biggest storylines of the 2024 team. Now, he is moving to his perceived natural position of left tackle full time with the departure of Dan Moore Jr. If Jones finally can live up to his first-round draft choice billing from the spring of 2023, that could be a game-changer for the entire offense.

“My confidence is always high,” Jones said in May, despite his bumpy 2024 performance at right tackle. “Being back on the left will be a bigger boost for me, just because I have been used to playing on the left side. … Staying locked in on the plays, making sure you know them. If you know the plays, you can play at 110%.”

If Jones and Fautanu can’t protect Rodgers on the edges, he might not play long enough to prove if the debate of signing him in the first place was worth it. Or, if Rodgers does stay upright under pressure, Metcalf, Austin and Wilson might not have time enough to get open.

If McCormick, Frazier and Isaac Seumalo can’t provide consistent push on the interior, it won’t matter if Johnson, Harris, Jaylen Warren, Franco Harris or Jerome Bettis is carrying the ball. The Steelers will never develop the offense Arthur Smith wants if the run game can’t win consistently on first and second downs.

“Last year at this point, it was kind of an unknown,” Frazier said of his rookie season. “Now you know what to expect. You know who is going to be next to you. It’s just more comfort.”

When teams are in a postseason rut like this organization is, change is always embraced. The Steelers have taken steps to do things somewhat differently on the depth chart.

But getting payout from the personnel they’ve previously invested in — and did again in the case of Watt — matters more than anything else.

Especially in offensive trenches.