It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time for a weekly Steelers links roundup at BTSC. But first, let’s take a look around the AFC North:
Now, onto some Steelers news and discussion:
(From Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer): Rodgers’s name first arose as the Steelers went through initial end-of-season evaluations. Pittsburgh was moving on from Russell Wilson. The Steelers did want to keep working with Justin Fields, but knew if another team was willing to make him the guy, they’d have a hard time keeping him. So they discussed Rodgers, Matthew Stafford, Kirk Cousins and Daniel Jones as options.
This entire article is worth a read for some more insights into how the Steelers have handled the Aaron Rodgers situation — as well as their quarterback dilemma in general — this offseason.
While it seems the Steelers didn’t have an unofficial agreement to sign Rodgers since he met with the team in March, the visit greatly increased the confidence for both sides that they’d work together in 2025. That also gave the Pittsburgh front office and coaching staff plenty of time to prepare for bringing the future Hall of Famer into the offense for the upcoming season.
(From Sports Illustrated’s Dominic Campbell): Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett spoke with reporters at mandatory minicamp and addressed a question about his thoughts on Rodgers, who he’ll face twice this season, home-and-away, in AFC North Divisional battles.
“What do I think about him? I think it’s a good opportunity to put him in the graveyard,” Garrett said on Rodgers.
Garrett is, of course, referring to the “quarterback graveyard” Halloween decorations he puts in front of his house each year.
Still, Steelers fans might find Garrett’s comments amusing given his career losing record against Pittsburgh. The Browns defender did finish second in the NFL in sacks last season with 14.
(From NFL.com’s Bobby Kownack): In Week 8 of the 2025 NFL season, Rodgers’ new squad will host the Green Bay Packers, with whom the future Pro Football Hall of Famer played 18 seasons and won a Super Bowl.
His Packers replacement, Jordan Love, is looking forward to the showdown, suitably slated for prime time on Sunday, Oct. 26.
“It’s going to be fun,” Love told Chanel3000’s Jason Wilde on Friday. “It’s going to be awesome. I’m excited for it. I can’t wait to be on different sides meeting up. I know we’ll talk pregame, things like that, and then hopefully we can exchange jerseys after.”
Love was drafted by the Packers in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft as Rodgers’ eventual replacement. He sat on the bench for two seasons before Rodgers left for the Jets.
The two quarterbacks seem to have a good relationship, always being complimentary of each other in their public statements — however, they’re set to face off for the first time in the Steelers-Packers game Week 8, and Love understandably seems excited to play against his former mentor.
In his two seasons as a starter for Green Bay, Love has recorded 7,548 passing yards, 57 passing touchdowns, and 22 interceptions.
(From The Athletic’s Mike DeFabo): Roman Wilson never knew how long he’d have to wait.
At 5 o’clock each morning, he woke up on Maui, the Hawaiian island where he was born and raised. After packing his book bag with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, Wilson jumped on a bus to the airport, hoping to catch the 6:30 a.m. flight to the island of Oahu to attend Saint Louis School, a high school football powerhouse in Honolulu that has produced numerous college and pro players, including Tua Tagovailoa, Marcus Mariota, and Nate and Nick Herbig.
To make the journey possible, Wilson’s mother, Colleen Colegrove, worked three different jobs, and his father, Jeffrey Wilson, got a job with Hawaiian Airlines so that his son could fly for free. But the perk came with a catch.
This is a great feature to learn more about the Steelers’ second-year receiver as he gears up for a potentially large role in the Pittsburgh offense following an injury-stricken rookie year where he barely saw the field. While Wilson has been an oft-forgotten member of the roster following his quiet first year, it’s always important to remember the work — and sacrifice — that goes into even making the NFL in the first place.
(From Yahoo Sports’ Nate Tice): It might seem early to plop a second-year player on this list, and this section can be considered a quasi-breakout player prediction. Frazier was a plus-starter at the pivot spot as soon as he stepped on the field as a rookie last season. He missed a few games because of injury, but Frazier already showed off a high IQ (he’s an excellent pre-snap communicator, and handled all protection and identification duties even with veteran quarterbacks behind him) and recorded the second-lowest one-on-one pressure rate allowed among qualifying centers, per Next Gen Stats. Frazier’s 2.9% rate was behind only Luke Wattenberg, center for the Broncos’ strong line.
NFL experts continue to be incredibly bullish following Frazier’s rookie season in Pittsburgh. Tice goes on to highlight not just Frazier’s high-level play, but also his mental acumen, noting it’ll be a great fit for Aaron Rodgers’ style of play.
Steelers center Zach Frazier, asked if there was any adjustment period to working with a new QB now that Aaron Rodgers is here pic.twitter.com/q3gSDdDvo1
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) June 10, 2025
(From Steelers.com’s Teresa Varley): Black’s pregame playlist isn’t exactly what most football players listen to. He listens to Adele. Not that there is anything wrong with listening to Adele, but her sentimental songwriting isn’t exactly hype-music before a physical football game. But that is just the plan.
“That’s what I did every single game since freshman year,” said Black. “It was the calm before the storm.
“A big part of it was I don’t want to rile myself up, and Adele is that soothing voice. My stepmom introduced her music to me when I was young, and I stuck with it.”
(From PennLive’s Nick Farabaugh): The Steelers’ plan for the backup nose tackle remains a bit of a mystery, and Dunbar sheds some light on it with two potential answers. First, rookie Yahya Black seems to factor into that role. Dunbar said Black was just playing at 4i for right now, but will play all over the line of scrimmage in his rookie season.
“He can play all over the defensive line,” Dunbar said. “You know, he’ll play over the center, he’ll play at 4i. Right now, he is working at 4i, but we think he can play all over the place.”
Another player who can play all over the place is Daniel Ekuale, the team’s free-agent addition from New England. Dunbar sees Ekuale as someone who could fill that void, too.
As always, I’d recommend reading Farabaugh’s entire article for a firsthand look at Steelers minicamp.
What will the Steelers’ defensive line rotation look like in 2025?
With Derrick Harmon already announced as a starter at left defensive end, it’s rather obvious that the Steelers’ starting three defensive linemen in their “base” 3-4 will be Harmon, Keeanu Benton, and Cam Heyward, with Benton continuing to see the majority of snaps at nose tackle.
However, the Steelers, like every other NFL team, rotate their defensive line, making depth an important factor to keep an eye on.
Rookie defender Yahya Black was seen by many (including myself) as a nose tackle coming out of college given his size and run-stopping skill set, but Pittsburgh D-line coach Karl Dunbar has now said on multiple occasions that the team will start him off playing 4i (Here’s a refresher on D-line positions for those who need it).
It seems like the Steelers view Black as a project to start out his NFL career — no shame in that as a fifth-rounder — meaning that Daniel Ekuale, as Farabaugh pointed out, could see a bigger role than initially expected. Following Pittsburgh’s release of Montravius Adams following the draft, the path to being the Steelers’ DL4 became wide open.
Despite a quiet 2024, Dean Lowry is still on the Steelers roster with a bit of an edge as a veteran, as is the recently re-signed Isaiahh Loudermilk. Logan Lee, a former teammate of Black’s, is coming off a rookie season spent on injured reserve.
Esezi Otomewo is a free agent defensive line addition who’s received even less buzz than Ekuale. DeMarvin Leal is still part of the room as well even if he’s become more of a hybrid edge rusher.
My guess? Ekuale and Loudermilk start off the year as the Steelers’ top reserve defensive lineman (Lowry could be a cap casualty), with Ekuale filling in as the backup nose behind Benton. I’m still a big fan of Black, but he might not be an immediate impact player.
And of course, the Steelers’ two-defensive-lineman nickel package means Keeanu Benton will be playing more than just nose tackle in 2025.
What are your thoughts on the Steelers’ defensive line rotation? Join the BTSC community and let us know in the comments!
