The 2026 NFL season is on the horizon. And after weeks of discussions, predictions and analysis, we’ll finally get to see some of the year’s biggest Steelers stories thus far finally play out on the football field as Pittsburgh hosts the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.
With that in mind, here are some of the biggest narratives Read & React will be monitoring this weekend:
How will the new-look secondary perform?
RB: There is a lot we still don’t know about the 2026 Pittsburgh Steelers, but the secondary might be where the most uncertainty lies.
When I predicted which Steelers units would be most likely to finish in the NFL’s top 10 in the upcoming season, the pass defense was the hardest to get a read on.
With a cornerback room made up of Joey Porter Jr., Jalen Ramsey, Jamel Dean, Asante Samuel Jr., Brandin Echols and Daylen Everette, there’s a legitimate argument that this group could be elite. But at the same time, it isn’t difficult to imagine scenarios that result in the Steelers dropping closer to their 29th-in-the-NFL ranking in passing yards allowed per game in 2025.
There’s a lot that can go wrong, especially early in the season.
Starting with Porter, who is expected to be the top name in the secondary this year, there’s a chance he doesn’t even play if he doesn’t receive an extension by kickoff. But assuming he does suit up, it’s worth noting Porter missed the bulk of summer on the Physically Unable to Perform list with a reported back injury, and never took a rep in the preseason as a result. Rust could be a factor early-on in his game.
Most of my concern regards the safety room, however, which will be especially undermanned early in the season with starter DeShon Elliott opening the year on injured reserve. Veteran Rayshawn Jenkins is expected to start alongside Jaquan Brisker, but I’d expect a short leash and Ramsey to rotate in at safety as well sometimes to give the group some needed extra range.
We haven’t seen much of free agent signing Jamel Dean this offseason, who has flown under the radar a bit this offseason despite having the makings of a high-end CB2. He wasn’t far behind Porter in most metrics in 2025, allowing a 63.1 passer rating when targeted and a 49.2% completion percentage for Tampa Bay.
Dean will turn 30 this season, meaning age is a concern but a Darius Slay-esque drop off in play isn’t expected this season. However, Dean’s availability is a minor question; he’s averaged four missed games per season in the last three years.
But the arguable biggest piece of the puzzle is how that assortment of names will mesh with the scheme of new coordinator Patrick Graham.
Graham is seen as a highly-adaptable defensive mind, but if the looks he did show in the preseason are any indicator, he isn’t afraid to use a number of coverage concepts in one game — or blitz. Graham sent a heavy dose of pressures in Pittsburgh’s slate of August games, putting the team’s secondary (that was missing names such as Porter, Ramsey and Brisker, to be fair) in tough spots where they didn’t always succeed.
Now up to almost-full strength, we’ll get to see how Pittsburgh’s defensive backs mesh with Graham’s coaching in a real game. It’ll also be interesting to see how Porter’s speciality in press-man coverage fits into a more diverse scheme.
The good news is that while the Falcons boast a talented group of offensive weapons, starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa shouldn’t present a massive challenge for the defense in Week 1. But if things go poorly against Tagovailoa, who was benched by the Dolphins late last year, it could be time to worry a little bit.
How soon can top rookies make an impact?
RP: As Week 1 gets closer, the team is letting out more info about how head coach Mike McCarthey sees the roster at this early stage of the season. The team has put out itsfirst depth chart of the season Tuesday, which came with some items to ponder. While it’s wise to remember a depth chart is ultimately just a list of names that a coaching staff can quickly pivot from on game day, it is also useful for setting initial expectations.
It isn’t shocking that the Steelers top two rookies, first-round selection Max Iheanachor and second-rounder Germie Bernard, are absent from the list of starters. McCarthy and the Steelers’ brass have been telegraphing that for most of August, even with the two youngsters giving plenty of reason for optimism this summer. But how long can we expect either rookie to remain sidelined?
We’ll start with Iheanachor, the team’s top pick. The Arizona State product was the talk of Steelers camp in the early days of training camp, and might have had a legitimate shot to start in Week 1 if he hadn’t suffered an untimely shoulder injury that sidelined him through the first two preseason games. With that amount of time missed, it was going to be next to impossible for him to earn a starting spot with a viable alternative at the Steelers disposal. The Steelers believe Dylan Cook is just that.
“We feel really good about Dylan,” McCarthy told the media Monday, when he said that Cook was taking most of the repsat right tackle this week.
I think it’s safe to pencil Cook in as the starter for Week 1, but I also think McCarthy’s comments are telling. Cook was taking the majority of the snaps, but not all. McCarthy also declined to outright name Cook the starter when he was asked. This, paired with other comments from the head coach, as well as from the team’s offensive coordinator Brian Angelichio, should make it clear that Iheanachor taking over this season is a matter of when and not if, as long as health allows.
Projecting when Iheanachor might take over is trickier. He was healthy enough to play in the final preseason game, so I have to believe he is physically capable of going now. You wouldn’t want to see it go down this way, but like most NFL backups, he’s realistically just one injury away from entering the lineup. But barring that, I’m eyeing Week 5 and October 11 as a possible entry date. That would give him another month to ramp up, and the Colts have one of the least intimidating pass rushes in the NFL. If they feel like that start date is still too soon, then perhaps coming out of their bye week against the Bengals in Week 10 might be another alternative.
McCarthy wasn’t just playing coy about the right tackle position, though. Instead, he said he wouldn’t discuss the starters, citing it as an attempt to keep the Falcons off balance heading into the matchup. While I ultimately don’t believe that will have much impact on the game one way or the other, it’s a long-held tactic by many football coaches I’ve met across all levels of football, so it shouldn’t be that surprising.
But unlike Iheanachor, I’m having a hard time believing the Steelers will keep Bernard sidelined for long. For one thing, Roman Wilson barely has any more on-field NFL experience than the rookie entering his third pro season. For another, Wilson was generating camp buzz last summer too, but until we see it translate to production in games, I think it’s fair to remain skeptical. And some recent comments by Aaron Rodgers really stood out to me when we consider the performances we saw both these receivers give in the preseason. After praising Bernard for not repeating mistakes, the Steelers QB was about Roman Wilson and had this to say:
Rodgers is famously hard on his receivers. Rodgers’ displeasure with former Steeler Mike Williams was something he voiced to the media when both men were on the Jets, and certainly played a part in Williams becoming available to Pittsburgh that season. Wilson was also reportedly a player Rodgers was frustrated with in 2025. Perhaps Rodgers is just encouraging Wilson in his own way, but I think Wilson’s role on the team has a far more limited path, regardless. Wilson is a player who really needs to play in the slot to succeed, and Bernard is simply a far more versatile piece in the offense who can play all three receiver positions.
I don’t want to overhype a preseason performance that accounted for just 48 passing snaps, but Bernard made quite the impact in his limited playing time. He drew eight targets, which equates to a target share of roughly 17 percent. For comparison, DK Metcalf led the team in target share in 2025 with 19.5%. Bernard turned those targets into five receptions for 64 yards (12.8 Y/REC) and a score. He created 46 yards after the catch, forced nearly as many missed tackles (4) as receptions, and did so with an average depth of target (ADOT) of just 7.0 yards.
That last stat is the one I found most appealing to this particular version of Rodgers, whose ADOT in 2025 was just 6.4 yards. Rodgers is looking to get the ball out quickly and avoid hits. If that number stays low — and it should, as Rodgers has a career ADOT of 8.5 and hasn’t posted a figure above 9.0 yards since 2019 — his receivers are going to have to shoulder a lot of the burden when it comes to creating explosive plays. That fits Bernard’s skillset far more than Wilson’s. Wilson, a one-year starter in college, forced just nine missed tackles during his time in school and generated 576 career YAC, with 221 YAC as his highmark in his final year at Michigan. Bernard, meanwhile, had 28 missed tackles forced during his two years as a starter at Alabama, and totaled 993 YAC with a single-season high of 394.
If Bernard can demonstrate an ability to make plays like this during the regular season, it won’t be long until he overtakes Wilson in weekly snaps.
Other storylines to watch
- This week, Mike McCarthy said the Steelers’ offense is built around Aaron Rodgers this year. While the Pittsburgh passing offense showed off some new concepts in the preseason, including a heavier emphasis on intermediate middle-of-the-field passing, will it look more like last year’s Steelers once Rodgers is the quarterback under center? — RB
- What will the pass rush rotation look like? The Steelers’ initial depth chart listed three outside linebackers as starters — TJ Watt, Alex Highsmith, and Nick Herbig — with just one safety as a starter. Does this mean the team will be playing all three pass rushers at the same time more often than we expect? I’m skeptical the team plans to do that too often, as that would likely necessitate them playing a one-high safety deep, and their safeties are all better suited near the line of scrimmage. The team might try to get all three edge players on the field occasionally with creative looks, but I suspect that will more often than not involve swapping out one of the inside linebackers rather than a member of the secondary. I’d wager this implies a more frequent rotation of the top three than we’re used to, with Jack Sawyer mixing in as well. Definitely something to monitor against the Falcons. — RP
- Is a Year 3 leap from Payton Wilson on the way? He showed promise as a rookie but seemingly failed to take a step forward last year, even losing playing time late in the season to Malik Harrison. Patrick Graham has helped boost the careers of middle linebackers in the past, and a bigger role from Wilson in 2026 would bode well for one of the defense’s weaker position groups, as well as Wilson’s future as a starter. — RB
- Will we get a clearer picture of how the Steelers plan to deploy their running back duo of Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle? Will the two be trading drives? Or will they have more specific roles, such as Dowdle gaining a goal-line and short-yardage role, and Warren playing more third downs? I think either approach could work, but the latter option could cause us to see more of one back than the other depending on game scripts. — RP
- The Steelers are clearly expecting big things from Keeanu Benton after a four-year, $72 million contract this offseason, and Derrick Harmon will also need to further establish himself as a long-term piece after being selected in the first round last year. With Cam Heyward closing out his career in the near future, Pittsburgh needs some of its younger defensive line talent to step up. 2025 fifth-rounder Yahya Black could be part of that equation as well. A good sign against the Falcons would actually be the Steelers giving Heyward more snaps off, signifying a higher level of confidence in the younger talent. — RB
- Special teams. The Steelers will have a lot to monitor in this oft-forgotten facet of the game. Punter Cameron Johnston is back with the Steelers, and has been placed on injured reserve in each of the past three seasons, including his last stint with the Steelers in 2024. Rookie returner Kaden Wetjen is the listed starter at both returner positions. After showing some life in the last preseason game against the Bills, he’s looking to put a rough summer behind him. Wetjen can’t afford to have many fumbles or procedural miscues if he wants to stick through the whole season. It will also be interesting to see how the Steelers’ special teams play as a whole. PFF graded the Steelers as the second-worst special teams unit in the preseason, with only the Vikings graded lower. With the departure of several key players who played punt and kick coverage — Connor Heyward, James Pierre, Chuck Clark, Kenny Gainwell, Jabril Peppers, Malik Harrison, and Miles Killebrew — the Steelers have lost a combined 556 kick and punt coverage snaps from a year ago. There could be some early bumps and bruises while the Steelers try to figure out who can best fill those roles. — RP
Join in on Steelers R&R by sharing your takes on this week’s topics. Feel free to pitch future questions in the comment section or on Twitter/X: tag @_Ryland_B or @ArmchairScout21, or email us at steelersreadnreact@gmail.com.
