Coaching Staff
Head Coach: Mike McCarthy
Offensive Coordinator: Brian Angelichio
Defensive Coordinator: Patrick Graham
Special Teams Coordinator: Danny Crossman
2025 Summary (W-L Record: 10-7)
The Steelers brought in Aaron Rodgers, D.K. Metcalf, and Jalen Ramsey last season in what appeared to be one final effort to go all in with Mike Tomlin as head coach.
It didn’t quite pay off.
The Steelers did win the AFC North but couldn’t end their streak of consecutive playoff losses. And after pushing that streak to 7 with a Wild Card loss to the Texans, Tomlin finally hung them up.
The issue with the Steelers last year is that they were exactly “meh” on both sides of the ball. Mediocre. Nothing special. A bit unpredictable and capable of winning some games you thought they couldn’t, but not so great that they could really compete with the best of the best.
And that’s really been the knock on the Tomlin era for the last decade or so.
What was uncharacteristic about last season was how poorly the defense performed at times. There were stretches, particularly early in the season, where they couldn’t stop the run at all. They struggled all season to defend the pass, finishing 29th in the league in passing yards allowed.
There were far too many blown coverages throughout the season, even in Week 18 against the Ravens, and even in the most pivotal moments of that game:
Unsurprisingly, that led to the Steelers allowing a lot of big plays through the air (they ranked 21st in 20-yard completions allowed).
Their saving grace was their ability to get to the quarterback (6th in sacks) and generate turnovers (4th in the NFL). But at the end of the day, the defense fell far short of expectations given their talent and given the standard established by decades of great Steelers defenses.
The offense wasn’t much better. They showed moments of playing well in both phases, but this was a short passing game without enough playmakers and with a quarterback who wasn’t looking to push the ball downfield.
They tried leaning on their run game come hell or high water, running it against stacked boxes at the 3rd highest rate in the NFL according to NFL Next Gen Stats. But they didn’t have the players to do it, ultimately finishing in the bottom-10 in total rushing yards. It was one of the least efficient ground games in the NFL as well, ranking 30th in % of runs gaining 4 yards or more.
The end result was a team good enough to win a weak division, but not good enough to compete with the serious contenders.
Key Additions
QB Drew Allar (3rd Rd, 76th Overall)
RB Rico Dowdle
FB Riley Nowakowski (5th Rd, 169th Overall)
WR Michael Pittman Jr.
WR Germie Bernard (2nd Rd, 47th Overall)
WR Kaden Wetjen (4th Rd, 121st Overall)
TE Robert Tonyan
RT Max Iheanachor (1st Rd, 21st Overall)
G Gennings Dunker (3rd Rd, 96th Overall)
C Brock Hoffman
DL Sebastian Joseph-Day
CB Jamel Dean
CB Daylen Everette (3rd Rd, 85th Overall)
S Jaquan Brisker
S Darnell Savage
Key Losses
RB Kenneth Gainwell
WR Calvin Austin III
WR Adam Thielen
WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling
WR Scotty Miller
TE Jonnu Smith
LG Isaac Seumalo
OT Andrus Peat
CB Darius Slay
CB James Pierre
S Kyle Dugger
S Chuck Clark
Biggest Questions Entering 2026
What will the offense look like under Mike McCarthy?
Many Steelers fans seemed less than enthused that Mike Tomlin finally stepped down only to be replaced by a coach of a similar era instead of one of the young stud offensive or defensive coordinators.
But bringing in an offense-first coach after 19 years of Tomlin is actually a major and needed change for the Steelers. The culture is going to be different. Their level of risk-aversion is going to be different. You’re likely to see Pittsburgh be more offensive minded in their decision making. And they’ll spread things out more than they did last year.
In 2025, the Steelers used “11” personnel (3 wide receivers) just 38.7% of the time, good for the 2nd-lowest rate in the NFL according to Sumer Sports. That will change under McCarthy, who has always used a far healthier amount of 3-wide-receiver sets.
And the Steelers will actually have the players to line up in 3-wide more frequently this season. A year ago, they really had no one reliable beyond D.K. Metcalf. But after signing Michael Pittman, Jr. this offseason, they have a bona fide #2.
Any of Pittman’s last five seasons with the Colts would have made him the Steelers’ number one or number two receiver a year ago. He’s a huge upgrade over what they had in 2025.
He’s a big receiver too - 6’4” and can play above the defense. He’ll be a great option for Rodgers to target on the outside in 1-on-1 situations, which Rodgers loves to do.
The Steelers also selected Germie Bernard out of Alabama in the second round this year. Many believe he was one of the biggest steals in the draft at the receiver position. So just between Bernard and Pittman they have a much improved wide receiver room.
But the bottom line is that just about everywhere McCarthy has gone throughout his career, the quarterback and passing game have thrived.
You can start back in 2006 with the Packers at the end of Brett Favre’s career. McCarthy brought him back to some level of sensible football in his first year in 2006. Then in 2007, the Packers went 13-3, made it to the NFC Championship Game, and Favre had arguably the best year of his career since he won 3 MVPs from 1995-97.
Then Aaron Rodgers took over in 2008, and it’s fair to say that McCarthy is directly responsible for developing him into a 4-time league MVP, Super Bowl champion, Super Bowl MVP, and one of the best in the history of the NFL ever to do it.
Fast forward to McCarthy’s time in Dallas, where he helped turn Dak Prescott into a top quarterback in the league. Before McCarthy went to the Cowboys, Dak was not really an advanced player. He was very much a see-it-to-throw-it quarterback, meaning he didn’t throw with a lot of anticipation. He needed the windows to be clearly defined. He needed receivers to be open before throwing them the ball.
But as soon as McCarthy got there, Dak improved in his anticipation and processing, and his performance took off as a result. He had two years where he was legitimately in the MVP discussion.
Now that McCarthy’s in Pittsburgh, there’s no reason to believe that he won’t be able to get the most out of a 42-year-old Rodgers.
Will the offensive line be better in pass protection?
On the surface, this seems like a weird question. The Steelers ranked 2nd in pressure percentage allowed and 9th in sacks last season.
A big reason for that, however, was that Rodgers got rid of the ball so quickly. He got the ball out in under 2.5 seconds on 54.9% of his dropbacks last season, which was the highest rate in the NFL among qualified passers according to PFF.
While the quick passes may have decreased pressure and sacks, they limited Pittsburgh’s ability to push the ball downfield. The Steelers finished dead last in intended air yards per attempt and air yards per completion. They also ranked 25th in completions of 20 yards or more.
On film, you could also see that the Steelers really struggled whenever Rodgers did try to hold onto the ball and take some chances downfield.