The Jets open up their 2025 campaign, and kick off the Aaron Glenn era, as they host the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday afternoon. Last season, the Jets were leading the Steelers 15-6 on the road, but the game flipped on a couple of Aaron Rodgers interceptions and they ended up getting blown out. Will this meeting turn out any different?
Let’s break down the Steelers roster, going position-by-position:
Quarterbacks
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll be well aware of the big storyline in this
game as quarterbacks Justin Fields and Aaron Rodgers aim to defeat the teams they were the opening day starters for last year. It’s the first such meeting of opposing quarterbacks in NFL history.
Last year’s meeting had its own big quarterback storyline, though, as this was the game where Fields was benched for Russell Wilson despite having led the Steelers to a 4-2 start while Wilson was getting healthy.
Rodgers put up good numbers last season, although he did so as the Jets ran the ball less than any other NFL team. While he fell well short of the player he once was last year, he’s now one more year removed from his September 2023 Achilles tear. The Jets will be clinging to the hope that he has had four bad season openers in a row, losing all of them apart from the one in 2023 where he was injured and Zach Wilson beat the Bills after coming off the bench.
We have a good idea of what to expect from Rodgers. He’ll get rid of the ball quickly, may force a few throws and could find that he’s not on the same page as his receiver from time to time. The Jets just need to be careful not to let him get into a rhythm because he’ll have a good idea of where to attack most of the Jets’ defensive personnel.
Two journeymen backups, Mason Rudolph and Skylar Thompson, are on standby although Thompson likely won’t be active after suffering a hamstring injury in practice. As we saw last year, Rodgers will want to remain in the game even if he gets banged up anyway.
Offensive Line
Three of the Steelers’ starters were rookies last year as they have second-rounder Zach Frazier at center, fourth-rounder Mason McCormick at right guard and first-rounder Troy Fautanu at right tackle.
Frazier is a player everyone, including Rodgers, has been raving about and he looks like he might be on a path towards being considered the league’s top center before too long. He only gave up one sack last year.
McCormick is an excellent athlete who was a mixed bag in the running game last year but only gave up two sacks and had two penalties.
Fautanu’s rookie season was wrecked by a dislocated kneecap so he’s only started one game at the NFL level. However, it was the other tackle, Broderick Jones, who was a weak link last season as he gave up 10 sacks and had a team-high 10 penalties. Jones seems to have settled down and looked to have shown some improvement in preseason.
The other starter is Isaac Seumalo, who is the elder statesman on the line at 31. The other four starters are all 25 or younger.
The bench includes interior linemen Spencer Anderson and Ryan McCollum, who started six games between them last year. Ex-Jets tackle Calvin Anderson and guard Max Scharping also return in a reserve role, although neither made a start in 2024.
The only new addition is the veteran Andrus Peat who has started over 100 NFL games and was added to the roster last month.
Running Backs
The Steelers are hoping Jaylen Warren is reading to become a lead back following the departure of perennial thousand-yard back Najee Harris during the offseason. Warren rushed for 511 yards in a reserve role last season but had back-to-back 100-yard games at one point in 2023.
Similarly, new addition Kenneth Gainwell is someone who has had decent production as a backup but might be keen for a bigger role as he hits his prime. For now, he’ll back up Warren, but both should contribute.
Rookie Kaleb Johnson was drafted in the third round but may need to work his way into the rotation while veteran Connor Heyward remains listed as the starting fullback.
Pass catchers
With last year’s number one wideout, George Pickens, now in Dallas, Rodgers has an interesting mix of pass catching options. The Steelers traded for and gave a big-money extension to DK Metcalf but then ended up with Rodgers at the helm instead of retaining Metcalf’s long-time teammate Wilson, so it will be interesting to see how soon the pair can develop chemistry with Rodgers not having played in preseason.
Calvin Austin is the other starter, coming off a year where he had 36 catches, 548 yards and four touchdowns, but the Steelers will also be hoping last year’s third round pick Roman Wilson steps up after missing all of his rookie year due to injury.
Tight end Pat Freiermuth is a consistently productive target who led the team with 65 catches and seven touchdown receptions in 2024.
Depth comes from receivers Scotty Miller and Ben Skowronek and tight ends Jonnu Smith and Darnell Washington. Smith played a big role in Miami’s come-from-behind overtime win over the Jets last season.
Defensive Line
The Steelers used their first round pick on Derrick Harmon in April, hoping he would boost their starting unit alongside nose Keeanu Benton and veteran Cameron Heyward. However, Harmon has been ruled out of Sunday’s game.
Heyward, who is now 36, is still playing at an elite level as he was named as an all-pro last year having recorded eight sacks and 11 pass breakups. However, there’s still uncertainty over his contractual status and even some speculation that he might not play on Sunday.
Isaiahh Loudermilk is the only member of last year’s rotation currently available as Dean Lowry is on injured reserve but Yayha Black and Esezi Otomewo are also listed as backup ends and Daniel Ekuale and Logan Lee are listed as backups at the nose tackle position.
Ekuale started 16 games for New England last year, so he’s probably their best reserve option. Black is a fifth round rookie.
Linebackers
TJ Watt stars off the edge in the Steelers’ 3-4 system and he lines up on the left all the time so he’ll be matching up with Armand Membou in his NFL debut. Watt was still a pro bowler last year despite his sack count dropping from 19 in the previous season to 11.5 in 2024. He did lead the league with six forced fumbles.
The other starting edge is Alex Highsmith, who is healthy again after being banged up during preseason. He missed six games last year but still had six sacks.
The Steelers don’t usually rotate much in the linebacker positions and their top backup Nick Herbig is listed as questionable after being limited in practice this week with a hamstring injury. Fourth round rookie Jack Sawyer is also on the bench.
On the inside, Patrick Queen started every game in 2024 and went to the pro bowl after racking up a team-high 129 tackles and seven pass break-ups. After backing up Elandon Roberts in his rookie year, Payton Wilson is moving into the starting lineup alongside Queen.
Malik Harrison, Cole Holcomb and Carson Bruener are listed as backups but, again, the Steelers don’t typically use their backup linebackers much on defense unless someone gets hurt. Holcomb missed the entire 2024 season due to injury, Harrison was a free agent signing and Bruener is a seventh round rookie.
Defensive Backs
In 2024, cornerbacks Donte Jackson and Beanie Bishop combined for nine interceptions for the Steelers. However, Jackson signed for the Chargers and Bishop failed to make the roster after preseason, although he was retained on the practice squad. No other Steelers player had more than one interception.
Joey Porter returns as one starting quarterback with veteran reinforcements added in the form of Darius Slay and Jalen Ramsey.
All-pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick is also gone, as he departed in the trade the brought in Ramsey and Smith. That meant there was a competition between Juan Thornhill and Miles Killebrew for a starting role alongside DeShon Elliott, who had 108 tackles last season. Thornhill won, but Killebrew remains in a reserve role.
For depth, the Steelers brought in a couple of ex-Jets; cornerback Brandin Echols and safety Chuck Clark.
Special Teams
The special teams played a role in the Steelers’ win over the Jets last year, as they blocked two kicks, albeit that one was negated for a penalty.
The Steelers have stability in their kicking game with punter Corliss Waitman and kicker Chris Boswell returning. Boswell was an all-pro last year as he led the league in scoring and only missed three kicks.
In the return game, Austin is the punt returner and Gainwell is listed as the kickoff returner. Austin had a touchdown return last year. Miller is listed as Austin’s backup and Johnson is listed as the number two kickoff returner.
Killebrew is the team’s special teams captain and a former pro bowler who led the Steelers in special teams tackles last season. Heyward and Skowronek are also productive in coverage. Echols and Skowronek will probably be the primary gunners.
