{"id":4898,"date":"2025-04-27T18:17:08","date_gmt":"2025-04-27T18:17:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/4898\/"},"modified":"2025-04-27T18:17:08","modified_gmt":"2025-04-27T18:17:08","slug":"2025-nfl-draft-grades-final-grades-for-pittsburgh-steelers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/4898\/","title":{"rendered":"2025 NFL Draft Grades: Final grades for Pittsburgh Steelers"},"content":{"rendered":"

And with that, the 2025 NFL Draft<\/a> is officially over. The Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> had one clear goal in mind entering the draft: stop the run. After spending five of their seven picks on defensive players, the Steelers won\u2019t have many excuses if their defense collapses in 2025. What did our staff make of the draft? Here are our final grades for Pittsburgh\u2019s draft.<\/p>\n

Derrick Harmon was the ideal pick in Round 1 \u2013 best player available and a huge need on the defense. Kaleb Johnson is a big, wide-zone runner who is the perfect addition to the Steelers\u2019 current running back committee. The Steelers\u2019 Day 3 haul wasn\u2019t as good as the first two, but Pittsburgh still came away with some talented football players. Will Howard was great value in the sixth round as a high-level backup to improve the team\u2019s thin quarterback room. Yahya Black isn\u2019t the flashiest selection but he\u2019s a reliable space-eater who provides much-needed depth on the defensive line. Bruener and Kent are fine seventh-round talents who should be in the mix to make the roster through special teams. The only pick I\u2019m really not sure about is Jack Sawyer, who lacks high-end traits as a 3-4 outside linebacker. However, he\u2019s strong at the point of attack and a plus run defender, making him a good OLB4 complement to Nick Herbig even if I\u2019m not crazy about the value. And hey, that College Football Playoff performance (both him and Howard) was undeniably special. Ideally, I would\u2019ve liked to see a pick at wide receiver, offensive line, or another defensive back, but it\u2019s hard to get too worked up about Day 3 picks. This draft is a good foundational piece as Pittsburgh continues to search for their quarterback of the future. Final Grade: B+ – Ryland Bickley<\/p>\n

The Steelers didn\u2019t do anything flashy, and Day 3 had some head scratchers, but the Steelers were clearly on a mission: stop the run at all costs. First round pick Derrick Harmon will go a long way toward that. Fourth round pick Jack Saywer should be able to step in as EDGE 3 in rushing downs and allow the Steelers to keep Nick Herbig fresh in a pass rush specialist role. Yahya Black is a traditional nose tackle to tie it all together. I would have liked to see the Steelers invest a higher pick into their secondary, and there were several picks on Day 3 where I think they forsook a BPA receiver to exorcise the demons from the playoff game against Baltimore. But it\u2019s hard not to be thrilled with Derrick Harmon and Kaleb Johnson as perfect fits on the roster. Final Grade: B – Ryan Parish<\/p>\n

The Steelers went into this draft with a clear plan and executed it. There were a few wrenches thrown into the mix as many speculated the Steelers could take Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders during his free fall, but it\u2019s safe to say their perceived interest was just a smoke screen. Hopefully, this is the last time we have to talk about him. The star of the show was Oregon DT Derrick Harmon, who is a perfect fit on the defensive line as a versatile 3-tech who can really rush the passer. He\u2019s a high-character player who reminds me of Cam Heyward. I\u2019m not overly obsessed with Kaleb Johnson, but I do think he can be a solid workhorse. I would have preferred more speed – someone like Virginia Tech\u2019s Bhayshul Tuten, as a complement to Jaylen Warren. The two Buckeyes, OLB Jack Sawyer and QB Will Howard, are prototypical Steelers. Hard workers without the highest RAS who will bring a lunch pail to work each day. They finished the draft with some depth at key positions, including adding a true nose in Yahya Black to provide more depth at a weak spot, and an unheralded corner in Donte Kent. Final Grade: B+ – Mike Nicastro<\/p>\n

The Pittsburgh Steelers addressed each of their needs in a variety of ways. To begin, the defensive line has been more than addressed. Derrick Harmon and Yahya Black join Cam Heyward and Keeanu Benton to help form a terrific run and pass defense. Offensively, Jaylen Warren gains a strong new running mate in Iowa\u2019s Kaleb Johnson. Together the two will play Pittsburgh football – north and south rushes, with speed and agility. While quarterback came late, Will Howard\u2019s large frame and big-game understanding should translate well to the NFL. His incredible receiving core at Ohio State translates well to the Steelers with DK Metcalf and George Pickens. Overall, they addressed each position that was in dire need and should drastically improve the 2025 squad. Final Grade: B- – Alex Hanczar<\/p>\n

The Steelers clearly want to stop the run and took Derrick Henry\u2019s performance in the Wild Card game personal. The Derrick Harmon pick was the perfect selection in the first round, and getting Kaleb Johnson at No. 83 was great value for a difference-maker out of the backfield. That said, I would have gone in a different direction with the Jack Sawyer pick. Stanford WR Elic Ayomanor was available and would have been a perfect fit in the offense as a great run blocker and a guy who can win at the line of scrimmage off the relase – I would have taken him as an eventual George Pickens replacement. Overall, though, this is a solid class with great potential. Final Grade: B+ – Jarrett Bailey<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"And with that, the 2025 NFL Draft is officially over. The Pittsburgh Steelers had one clear goal in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4899,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[2371,2373,19,1384,7,23,29,89,6,520,57,2376,2374,2360,2372,426,24],"class_list":{"0":"post-4898","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-behind","9":"tag-curtain","10":"tag-draft","11":"tag-final","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-for","14":"tag-front-page","15":"tag-grades","16":"tag-nfl","17":"tag-pittsburgh","18":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","19":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers-draft","20":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers-news","21":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","22":"tag-steel","23":"tag-steelers","24":"tag-the"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114411303632739159","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}