Steelers’ new-look secondary still an uncertainty according to PFF

As the 2025 NFL offseason progresses into the summer months, there will constantly be a barrage of lists and rankings from various outlets. While some fans will have preferred places where they look for particular rankings, others will just avoid the information altogether.

After previously reporting on the members of the Pittsburgh Steelers who landed in the top 32 players at various positions according to Pro Football Focus (PFF), now it is time to look at several position groups as a whole and where they rank across the NFL. I know there are many who like to criticize PFF rankings, with me being one of them, it doesn’t mean that their information is always incorrect. While they used rankings for some of their reasoning when looking at players within the position groups, team scores from 2024 were not their ultimate deciding factor and instead it was the opinion of the various authors depending on which position group was being covered.

Whenever I cover various things from PFF, I often give the disclaimer reminding people that their grades are merely an opinion. One thing PFF should be commended on is that they collect an immense amount of data, particularly looking at each player on every snap, in order to form their opinion. But more data doesn’t automatically deliver a correct opinion. Regardless, it is still a great point of discussion to see where the Pittsburgh Steelers rank and the various positional groups.

Last up, let’s look at PFF’s rankings of all defensive backs groups where the Steelers fall right in the middle of the NFL.

16. Pittsburgh Steelers

The trade for Jalen Ramsey brings a true superstar to Pittsburgh’s secondary, but the loss of Minkah Fitzpatrick leaves a massive void at safety. DeShon Elliott is coming off his best season with a 71.1 grade, though it’s his only year grading above 70.0. Juan Thornhill, another offseason addition, has already shown signs of decline. The cornerback group, led by Ramsey, Darius Slay and Joey Porter Jr., should be a strength, but the secondary overall leans heavily on aging veterans with little young talent to provide a spark.

With the Steelers coming in 23rd on the list at this time last year, it appears as if the moves they have made this offseason are at least somewhat of an improvement. Although the Steelers did move on from All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, they did so to add an All Pro cornerback which is arguably a much more difficult position to find quality players.

Putting the Steelers right in the middle of the NFL isn’t a surprise. The bottom line is, PFF isn’t sure if this is going to work. In fact, there are probably a number of Steelers fans who feel the same way. There is a potential for the Steelers secondary to make a big jump from last season. But when using a number of players who are more towards the end of their career than the beginning, nothing is for certain.

When PFF talks about the Steelers leaning heavily on aging veterans with not much young talent, it seems like they’re not really paying attention. The Steelers have a lot of young cornerbacks that will provide depth to this team. Before the start of free agency, the Steelers didn’t have a cornerback with more than two years of experience left on the roster. Now that they’ve added some veterans, they’re being dinged for being too old? It just doesn’t make sense.

Looking at the rest of the AFC North, the Baltimore Ravens landed as the top team on the list for the NFL this season. I’m not surprised as Baltimore added Jaire Alexander who PFF has been slobbering all over for years regardless of his inability to stay on the field. The Cleveland Browns also landed in the top half of the NFL coming in one spot ahead of the Steelers at 15th. The Cincinnati Bengals, a team that is not known for really much of anything on defense, came in at the 25th position.

Other position groups covered:

Receivers
Defensive Line
Running Backs
Inside Linebacker
Offensive Line