The best tacklers from 2024 the Steelers are set to face in 2025

After taking a look over several days at some of the best offensive players at their positions in 2024 who the Steelers are scheduled to face in 2025, we then switched sides of the ball to look at a couple areas of the defense. Before moving on, here are all the groups who have been covered so far:

Rushers
Receivers
Quarterbacks
Tight Ends
Pass Rushers
Pass Defenders

Today it’s time to check out players who have the most tackles in 2024 who the Steelers are set to face this year. For this one, it should be noted that tackles are NOT an official stat kept by the NFL. For this exercise, I will be using combined tackles reported by Pro Football Reference. As I said before, there could be injuries, trades, benchings, or holdouts which could make these players not able to see the field when they face the Black & Gold. But for now, these things can’t be known for sure. This list consists of players who had at least 140 tackles in 2024, their overall rank last season, and the week in which they will face the Steelers.

Zaire Franklin (1st) & Nick Cross (9th)
Indianapolis Colts
Week 9

With two players from the same team, Zaire Franklin has put up over 160 tackles in each of the last three seasons after never eclipsing 40 in his first four years with the Colts. Franklin led the NFL in tackles in 2024 with 173. In five matchups with the Steelers, Franklin only put up statistics in the last three matchups, all in the last three seasons, where he had 11 tackles in 2022, 5 in 2023, and 9 in last year’s matchup with the Steelers. Safety Nick Cross exploded on the scene with 142 tackles last season after never having more than 40 in the previous two seasons. In three matchups with the Steelers, Cross has 11 tackles with 8 coming last year.

Jamien Sherwood (t-3rd)
New York Jets
Week 1

After three seasons in a reserve role, Jamien Sherwood busted out with 158 tackles in 2024 after previously only having 46 in 2023. Additionally, Sherwood led the NFL in solo tackles with 98. Facing the Steelers twice in his career, Sherwood only had one tackle in the 2022 match up with the Steelers but had nine last year in the Steelers 37–15 victory.

Robert Spillane (t-3rd)
New England Patriots
Week 3

After one season with the Tennessee Titans followed by four with the Steelers, Robert Spillane is no stranger in Pittsburgh. In his first season with the Las Vegas Raiders, Spillane jumped from 79 tackles with the Steelers in his best season of 2022 to 148 tackles in 2023 and 158 in 2024. Spillane has faced the Steelers each of the last two years with the Raiders where he had 7 tackles in 2023 and 8 in 2024. This year Spillane joins the New England Patriots to face the Steelers once again.

Roquan Smith (5th)
Baltimore Ravens
Week 14, Week 17

Roquan Smith has played 7 seasons in the NFL and has had over 100 tackles every season of his career. Playing 4.5 seasons with the Chicago Bears, Smith had one game against the Steelers during that time in which he had 12 tackles in 2021. Since joining Baltimore, Smith has appeared in six games against the Steelers with 53 tackles total with his top total coming in the Steelers 18-16 win in 2024 where he had 13 tackles.

Daiyan Henley (8th)
Los Angeles Chargers
Week 7

After barely seeing the field in his rookie season, Daiyan Henley started all 17 games in 2024 and had 147 tackles. Facing the Steelers last year, he had 12 tackles in the Steelers 20–10 win.

Jordyn Brooks (10th)
Miami Dolphins
Week 15

After four seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, the last three of which he had at least 110 tackles, Jordyn Brooks joined the Miami Dolphins in 2024 where he had 143 tackles on the season. Facing the Steelers in 2021 with the Seahawks, a year where he had 184 tackles, he had 14 tackles in the Steelers 23–20 overtime win.