Positive Takeaways: Steelers who stood out on defense and special teams
As Dave Schofield wrote a couple weeks ago in his “Unpopular Opinion” article, when the Steelers lose five straight games to end the season, it is easy to focus solely on the negatives. As you can imagine, the negatives far outweigh the positives, but that doesn’t mean positives don’t exist heading into the offseason. I’d go as far as saying there were players who stood out in a positive way heading into the 2025 league year.
In this article we’re going to focus on the offensive side of the football, with defense and special teams coming up. So, who stood out on the defensive side of the ball and on special teams? Let’s take a look…
Defense
Cam Heyward
When Cam Heyward signed his extension prior to the start of the 2024 season, there were detractors in both the media and the fan base. They wondered how they could give an aging veteran, coming off an injury-plagued 2023, an extension? Heyward proved them all wrong with his 2024 season.
Just take a look at the stats…
Games: 17 (17 Starts)
Tackles: 71 (35 Solo)
Sacks: 8
TFL: 12
PD: 11
Those numbers don’t truly paint the picture of how dominant Heyward was, but him being voted a 1st Team All-Pro and Pro Bowler certainly help. For as disappointing as some on the defensive side of the ball were, Heyward stepped up in a big way last season.
DeShon Elliott
Of all the players who were acquired via free agency last offseason, none stood out more than DeShon Elliott. Outside of a hamstring injury down the stretch, against teams they could ill afford to not have Elliott in the lineup, Elliott was everything fans expected, and then some.
Just like Heyward, the stats below don’t truly dictate how great Elliott was on a game-to-game basis.
Games: 15 (14 Starts)
Tackles: 108 (72 Solo)
Sacks: 0.0
INT: 1
PD: 6
Elliott was a tackling machine for the Steelers, and he did it in every way possible. The Steelers finally found a solid second safety to run with Minkah Fitzpatrick, and his name is DeShon Elliott.
Payton Wilson
Let’s go back in time and listen to some of the critics who declared Payton Wilson as injury-prone when the Steelers drafted him coming out of North Carolina State. Well, he was the only rookie from the 2024 draft class to play in all 17 games, and he made big plays along the way.
Let’s take a look at the stats:
Games: 17 (4 Starts)
Tackles: 78 (49 Solo)
Sacks: 0.0
INT: 1
TD: 1
PD: 2
Wilson absolutely made splash plays, the interception of Lamar Jackson and the scoop-and-score vs. the Bengals stand out, and while he got lost in the shuffle from time-to-time he will be looked upon for a sophomore jump. Wilson had a great step in the right direction, and was a bright spot for the defense.
Patrick Queen
The beginning and end of the season wasn’t the best for Patrick Queen, but that doesn’t mean the entire season was a failure. In fact, I’d suggest Queen was a bright spot for the defense. Yes, the Steelers gave him the richest free agent deal in team history, but I don’t think he was a disappointment. He was durable, reliable, and the hope is Year 2 with the green dot on his helmet will come a lot easier than the first year of him calling defensive plays in his career.
Games: 17 (17 Starts)
Tackles: 129 (65 Solo)
Sacks: 1.0
INT: 0
PD: 7
Even though Queen was a bright spot, there is still so much which was left untapped. Queen’s solo sack was the lowest of his career, and you could tell the responsibility of having to get everyone organized absolutely played a role in his overall production. This was a transitional year for Queen, and I still think he was an upgrade at ILB over what the Steelers have had in the past.
Special Teams
Chris Boswell
What else is there to say about the Wizard of Boz which hasn’t been said already? Boswell’s game remains strong…
FG Attempts: 44
FG Made: 41
Long: 57
I really don’t feel as if Boswell’s needs much explanation. Anyone who watches the games knows why Boswell was a 1st Team All-Pro and AFC Pro Bowler. Another tremendous season.
Corliss Waitman
When Cameron Johnston was lost for the season, many wondered if the Steelers would bring back one of the many re-tread punters they’ve employed recently. They did just that, but Waitman had a tremendous season in 2024.
Yards/Punt: 46.4
Long: 71
Touchbacks: 5
While his numbers were great, there was really only one play which fans might look back on and think it was a bad play, and that would be the shank he had in the blizzard on Thursday night in Cleveland. Outside of Waitman’s punting, he also did a tremendous job holding for Boswell, something he had to be taught how to do in his first sting with the Steelers. Waitman was a definite bright spot in 2024.
These Steelers will be called upon for big seasons this year, if all return to the roster, and take steps forward in their progression with the organization.
Be sure to stay tuned to SCN for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they prepare for what could be a lengthy, and tumultuous, offseason.
Testing the comments section.
Good article 👍
Test comment worked Bert! lol
If Cam get’s 12 more sacks that’s 100, he’s gotta be a HOF’er at that point right?
Also, I’d keep Waitman, instead of Johnston.
Johnston is a really good punter. I want to see what he can do. Both he and Waitman are still on the roster for 2025. Could be a camp battle…
Should definitely have Waitman in camp in case Johnston isn’t 100. I like my punters to be left footed.
Very good career player ,not a transcended player ,not great . The original hid mandate was exclusively for greats only ,our Steelers Cam Heyward doesn’t qualify as great ,his impact isn’t historically elite ,his stats are more astute than his actual impact ,for instance he’s never had a lengthy great post season performance’s regardless of final score being in favor of opponent.
Did this exclude TJ for a reason? It’s hard to qualify that he wasn’t the most impactful player on the defense last season, especially given how much other teams keyed on him.
Are we just assuming that’s a given in order to focus on other guys. The article doesn’t indicate that is the case.
For example, Queen had far more non-standout plays per standout plays than Watt did. Watt not only led the team in sacks, TFL and QB hits, but also forced fumbles, had two fumble recoveries, 4 PDs. He had 61 tackles (40 solo).
I’m not speaking for Jeff, but the general consensus would be T.J. Watt had a down year when comparing it to typical T.J. Watt. I don’t know if that’s why he was left off or not.
Yes, TJ has set such a crazy bar for himself when he has a career year for some players, it doesn’t live up to the standard he set for himself. It’s unfair, but also the reasoning behind my decision.
I get that, but is it really fair to hold him to a standard set in a different year. My point is that it is unlikely TJ repeats his success of the prime years of his career. He’s getting older and defenses are keying on him.
I’m not sure we can expect the same production from him. But that deosn’t mean he isn’t the key to the defense going forward.
It will be interesting to see if he reinvents himself and the Steelers restructure the defense to work around him being more of an impact player. Looking at what happened with Minkah, I’m not really hiolding my breath.
If not, then they need to pair him with an exception d-lineman on that side. The defense was at it’s best on his side when he and Tuitt were both peaking in 2020 and combined for 26 sacks.
I’m not sure that Benton is or can become that player. He has only 2 sacks in two years. But I also don’t think they’ve played him in that role often. Hargrave had only four sacks in his first two years. Then exploded for 6.5 in year three. It’d be great if Benton folloew that arc.
The Steelers chose Tuitt over Hargrave because he was more prototypical of what they wanted at that position. Tuitt responded with his breakout year in 2020 but then he ended his career due to personnal issues.
Just one of another impactful decisions that seemed right at the time but turned out wrong.
I will admit to being skeptical of the Cam Heyward contract extension on the basis of him aging out. I couldn’t have been more wrong on that one. Still, I remain skeptical for what the next two years will bring with Heyward but I’d be more than happy to be wrong again.
I think the Steelers can cut cam with almost no penalty at this point, so there was no risk of the contract if I’m not mistaken. Cam is the man!
I recall seeing that somewhere too but SportTrac has the Steelers on the hook for $19 million a year for the next 2 years. Over the Cap is showing lower figures depending on the type and timing of separation but the cap hits aren’t insignificant. No matter, if Heyward continues his age-defying play he’s not going anywhere.
Shoutout Christian Kuntz! I’ll shoutout Greg Warren while I’m at it too haha