Better or Worse? 2025 Pittsburgh Steelers Defensive Line

The Pittsburgh Steelers have seen a lot of roster turnover this offseason, at many positions, and sometimes you have to wonder if the change which is made is always good. After all, change just to change isn’t what any NFL franchise wants to do, but changing for the better is always the objective.

However, with the current state of free agency losing players in inevitable. Making changes to your roster to help absorb those players lost is the challenge of every NFL front office. With that out of the way, it is time to take a look at the 2025 Steelers roster, by position, and whether or not the roster is better, or worse, entering the upcoming season.

Here are our past breakdowns:

Offensive Line

Today we focus on the defensive line. Before giving a full analysis, let’s take a look at players lost, players added, and players who are expected to make a jump in production this season:

Players Lost:

• Larry Ogunjobi
• Montravius Adams

Players Added:

• Derrick Harmon*
• Yahya Black*
• Esezi Otomewo

*Rookie

Players Expected to Make a Jump:

• Keeanu Benton
• Logan Lee

When it comes to the defensive line, this is a position group which should be relatively easy to predict whether they’ve gotten better or worse. Notice the key word in the aforementioned sentence is “should”. The ease in which most would predict this group to be better is based solely on assumptions.

Assuming the young rookies brought in will be able to make an impact, in some way, from Day 1.

This assumption goes all the way to 5th Round draft pick Yahya Black and his ability to step in and be the nose tackle the Steelers haven’t had since Casey Hampton. Think that’s an exaggeration? I don’t think it is. The Steelers have toyed with other big bodies players like Dan McCullers in years past, and even more slender defensive linemen like Montravius Adams at the nose, but none have fit. Even Keeanu Benton has the label of a nose tackle, but most would predict him to have more success sliding to the end/tackle position on the defensive line.

Can Yahya Black fill that void and be the selfless player to take up two blockers and allow the inside linebackers to flow to the football and rack up tackles? Based on what we saw out of Black at Iowa, and based on my conversation with beat writer Tom Kakert, listen to that podcast below, Black absolutely should be that guy for the Steelers, even if it is in a part-time basis in the team’s base defense.

As for Harmon, the expectation is for him to come in and contribute immediately. To be a rotational piece with Cam Heyward and Benton to allow them to stay fresh, and keep healthy bodies along the defensive line to stop the proverbial bleeding in run defense.

So, is the offensive line better or worse?

Verdict: Better

There is a lot of pressure on the Steelers young defensive linemen to step in and step up, but even if Harmon can live up to the billing I see no reason why he couldn’t at last put together the production of Larry Ogunjobi in 2024. Anything more is a great addition, but hopefully the progress of Benton is noticeable in 2025 as he enters the third year of his NFL career.

What about you? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below, and be sure to stay tuned to SCN for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they prepare for the rest of the offseason and get ready for training camp.