5 Steelers who could earn their first Pro Bowl in 2025

On the most recent episode of the Scho Bro Show podcast, we each gave our list of five players on the Steelers roster who could earn their first Pro Bowl selection this season. It’s not about being selected to the Pro Bowl with the Steelers, so players like Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf, Darius Slay, Jonnu Smith, and Jalen Ramsey are not eligible.

Here are the players Big Bro Scho and I chose who are most likely to earn their first Pro Bowl this season. We have four of the same players for our top four but the order is slightly different.

Without further ado, here are our individual lists:

Big Bro Scho

5. Payton Wilson
4. DeShon Elliott
3. Zach Frazier
2. Pat Freiermuth
1. Joey Porter Jr.

Dave

5. Troy Fautanu
4. DeShon Elliott
3. Joey Porter Jr.
2. Pat Freiermuth
1. Zach Frazier

Before we started the list, both Rich and I talked about how we didn’t have Alex Highsmith on our list simply because it’s too difficult for him to make it with T.J. Watt being on the same team. Someday Highsmith could be selected, but it’s going to be tough in 2025.

We both had a different player for our final spot on the list. Rich went with Payton Wilson as he felt there’s a potential he could outplay Patrick Queen this season and that would put him in line to be select selected to the Pro Bowl. For me, I went with Troy Fautanu even though I think it would take a year of name recognition for him to be awarded. Still, if he plays that great it’s still possible it could be this season.

Both of us went with DeShon Elliott in our fourth spot as I stated I felt that he was the Steelers best safety last year over Minkah Fitzpatrick. With Fitzpatrick now gone, Elliott has the chance to show he’s the top guy and could earn the honor.

The other spot that Rich and I both had the same was tight end Pat Freiermuth in the second spot. With a 2024 Pro Bowl tight end now on the roster, if Freiermuth outplays Jonnu Smith from a production standpoint, it would be hard for him to be ignored when it came to Pro Bowl selections.

Big Bro and I both have the same two players for our last spot but who one of us had in third the other had in first. Rich went with Joey Porter Jr. has the top spot where, if he outplays the other corners on the team, he would have to be noticed. I put him in the third spot because he would have to outplay both tDarius Slay and Jalen Ramsey. Because he has to do better than two players rather than one (like Pat Freiermuth), I thought it was a little more difficult. Instead, I had Zach Frazier in the top spot because I felt he should have been selected to the Pro Bowl last year. He now has the name recognition from 2024 which puts him on an inside track. Where it becomes a problem with Frazier, which is why Rich put him in the third spot, is the two centers who are ranked ahead of him at this time are both in the AFC. This makes it more difficult to squeeze onto the team simply because of the quality competition.

So there are our choices for the top five players on the Steelers roster who could make their first Pro Bowl this year. How did we do? What would be the order of your top five? Make sure to leave your thoughts in the comments below.

To hear more of a breakdown about our lists, check out the most recent episode of the Scho Bro Show podcast below: