The Steelers roster is full of young players who are poised to have big seasons in 2025. Both sides of the ball have talent that is on the verge of big things. We decided to narrow it down to the top five Steelers breakout candidates for this season:
1. Kaleb Johnson:
Our favorite draft pick from the 2024 draft, Kaleb Johnson is perfect for what the Steelers want to do on offense. He is a natural fit for Arthur Smith’s wide zone running scheme. Johnson is also the big back Mike Tomlin covets to run his type of football. Do not be surprised if Kaleb Johnson is RB1 as soon as week one. It is not a stretch to think he will be a serious candidate for the NFL offensive rookie of the year. We go into further greater detail on all the Steelers draft picks here: Grading the Steelers 2025 draft
2. Payton Wilson
Payton Wilson is coming off a pretty impressive rookie season. He is an incredible athlete at the linebacker position, the likes of which haven’t been seen since Ryan Shazier. The only thing that could derail Wilson from having a breakout season in 2025 is his injury concerns. The injury history from his college days is well documented, and will always be a something to keep an eye on. Wilson did manage to stay healthy all of last season. Hopefully those days are behind him, because big things are expected this year.
3. Cory Trice
Speaking of injury concerns, Cory Trice is the poster boy for it. He is however an extremely talented player when on the field. The argument could be made that he is every bit as good as Joey Porter Jr. when healthy. We’re going to go out on as limb here predicting Trice stays on the field, and pushes veteran Darius Slay for a starting role.
4. Pat Freiermuth
Pat Freiermuth has seen it all in his time in Pittsburgh. He is the only player who’s been here through the duration of the time between Ben Roehtlisberger and Aaron Rodgers. In between there Freiermuth has suffered through some pretty horrendous quarterback play, With Aaron Rodgers under center, we expect to see Pat Freiermuth’s best season as a pro. Look for career bests in yards and touchdowns in 2025.
5. Derrick Harmon
We can’t have a top five Steelers breakout candidates list without including the team’s first round pick. After watching Larry Ogunjobi last year almost anything can be considered a breakout. Having said that, the Steelers are very high on Derrick Harmon. So much so they told other teams they were not interested in trading out of their pick in the first round. Pittsburgh knows how to draft defensive lineman, so expect big things from Harmon this season.