What Steelers Rookie will have the biggest impact in 2025?

With the draft and rookie minicamp behind us, we’re slowly working our way through the NFL offseason, with OTAs just around the corner. With that in mind—and having had the chance to dive deeper into some of the tape from the Steelers’ 2025 rookie class—I’ve been thinking: which member of this group is set to have the biggest role on the team this season? The key here is to evaluate 2025 in a vacuum, focusing purely on this upcoming season.

By default, based on talent and draft investment, the two most likely candidates to play significant roles in 2025 are first-round pick Derrick Harmon and third-round running back Kaleb Johnson out of Iowa. That’s not to say players like Jack Sawyer, Yahya Black, or Will Howard won’t contribute, but based on draft capital and pedigree, it’s tough to argue they’ll have the biggest impact.

Looking at Harmon and Johnson, both possess the talent, pedigree, and opportunity to make a splash this season. But the real question is: who do I expect to play the largest role based on those factors?

Starting with Derrick Harmon—he’s going to be on the field a fair amount. With his first-round draft pedigree, he’s likely to be the third defensive lineman in the rotation behind Cam Heyward and Keeanu Benton. His ability to disrupt plays with a deep bag of pass-rush moves makes him an appealing option on third downs, which could open the door to plenty of impactful snaps.

Derrick Harmon checks a lot of boxes.

• Age: 21 ✅
• Size: 6’6 (88%), 322lbs (90%) ✅
• Athlete: 4.95 40 (75%) + Twitch ✅
• Production: 55 Pressures (#1 in NCAA) ✅
• Film: extremely impressive ✅

Has some Chris Jones to his game… pic.twitter.com/VQYzAEx9TV

— SCOUTD (@scoutdnfl) April 21, 2025

That said, the adjustment to the NFL can be a tough one to make for the position. The league is far more physically demanding, and adapting to the level of talent in the trenches can pose serious challenges for rookies early on. That’s not to say Harmon can’t make that leap quickly, but the Steelers have historically been cautious when integrating young defensive linemen. They tend to give them time to get accustomed to the speed and physicality of the league before fully throwing them into the fire. For example, Cam Heyward didn’t exceed 300 snaps in either of his first two seasons, and Keeanu Benton logged just 570 snaps as a rookie—considerably lower than what we’ve seen from early-round linemen on other teams across the league.

Johnson seemingly has a slightly more direct path to making an impact, as he’ll enter the season presumably slotted in as the RB2 behind Jaylen Warren. However, many believe that based on his skill set and natural fit within an outside zone scheme, he could push to become the Steelers’ lead back at some point this season. From the images we saw during rookie mini-camp, Johnson already looks like a second- or third-year NFL player from a physical standpoint. And unlike defensive linemen, running backs—if talented enough—can often be handed the keys as rookies, which is why the position tends to offer a quicker path to production.

So what could keep Johnson off the field? The biggest question mark in his game is his third-down ability—specifically, catching passes out of the backfield and holding up in pass protection. That’s not to say he’s necessarily weak in those areas, but rather that we just haven’t seen enough to properly evaluate him. At Iowa, the offense rarely involved running backs in the passing game, so he didn’t get many opportunities to showcase those skills. On top of that, Jaylen Warren is an absolute monster in pass protection, so even if Johnson flashes those traits in camp, Warren is still likely to be the trusted option in key third-down situations.

Now, by doing this exercise, I hope it doesn’t come across like I’m pitting them against each other—because obviously, we want both guys to be big-time contributors in 2025 and beyond. That said, if I had to choose just one, I’d go with Johnson. I believe he has the clearest path to early playing time, especially since the team has historically been less hesitant to hand snaps to rookie running backs who are showing they can handle it.

With that being said, what do you guys think? Who do you believe will be the biggest contributor from the Steelers’ 2025 rookie class? Let us know in the comments below!