It’s the NFL offseason, which means teams tend to get discussed in the most macro terms possible: the quarterbacks, the star players, game-by-game predictions, and so on.
But sometimes, the greatest stories from training camp, minicamp, and OTAs are about the lesser-known players: the names fighting for a roster spot, filling in roles in a rotation, or fine-tuning their skills on special teams.
With that in mind, this week we wanted to highlight some unsung heroes from the Steelers’ 2025 team who continue
to fly under the radar entering 2026. These are players who probably won’t be starters, but found ways to stand out in their smaller roles:
LB Carson Bruener
RB: Bruener was the reason why I wanted to write this article in the first place. The 2025 seventh-rounder played 288 snaps his rookie season, but just one was on defense. He became one of the Steelers’ top special teamers almost immediately, playing snaps on kickoffs and punts as both a blocker and a tackler.
While not among the league’s most prestigious honors, he was named a second-team all-pro by PFF for his work on special teams, also nabbing a spot on the Pro Football Writers of America’s all-rookie squad.
For the 226th overall pick in the draft, that’s a great return on investment. But I think one of the reasons that Bruener’s excellence flew under the radar – besides a general lack of special teams appreciation in the NFL media/fanbase – was that he was always expected to do well in that role.
Coming out of college at Washington (you can read my June 2025 “rookie report” on Bruener here), he had the exact sort of profile you expect from a special teams ace: high-effort, high-football IQ player, a little undersized but a capable athlete, team captain, and NFL bloodlines (son of former Steelers tight end and now-scout Mark Bruener).
And of course, Bruener was already a good special teamer in college.
I won’t pretend to be a special teams strategy savant, but it’s fairly easy to see the football IQ we all raved about with Bruener pre-draft when he’s covering returns.
Bruener displays strong lane awareness, but more importantly, he’s always keyed in on where the ball carrier is, knowing when to go in for the tackle even if it’s from a tougher angle. While his lateral agility was a question coming out of college, he’s a solid accelerator who can close ground quickly, and despite some size concerns (6’1, 227 pounds), he consistently showed the ability to use his hands to keep himself free.
In fact, Bruener was one of the top special teams tacklers in the league last year, notching 19 in total, which tied for the 10th-most. He added two more in the Steelers’ playoff loss to the Houston Texans.
While special teams is generally seen as the dirty work of an NFL game, Bruener still found ways to get highlight plays. Especially later in the year, he was sending potential blockers flying when going in for a stop.
Sure, Bruener has some size concerns as an NFL linebacker, but special teams is where the “got that dog in him” factor matters the most.
Of course, tackling isn’t all there is to special teams. Bruener was asked to block as well. He held up well when protecting the punter, but was less consistently effective when trying to set up returns. Still, his effort constantly stood out. I wouldn’t call him an ace in that area of the game, but he’s still a solid contributor.
After Pittsburgh lost special teams ace Miles Killebrew to injury early in 2025, Bruener showed what it takes to fill in a similar role moving forward. And on a cheap rookie deal, he should present good value moving forward for the Steelers.
Is Bruener a roster lock moving forward? With a new coaching staff in Pittsburgh, it’s hard to say he’s a guarantee to stick around. But especially with few special teams ace-type players on the roster in the first place (Ben Skowronek, maybe Travis Homer or Robert Spears-Jennings if they find a spot?) Bruener’s odds look strong. And the Steelers didn’t address the inside linebacker position much during the offseason.
I think the biggest question is if Bruener can take the next step to being a contributor on defense in the future. The Steelers shuffled around their inside linebacker depth at times last season, and he only ended up with one defensive snap.
Again, there are some legitimate questions about Bruener’s size, but keep in mind the Steelers’ every-down linebacker is the 6’0, 232-pound Patrick Queen. That’s not a big difference, even though Queen is a better athlete than Bruener, and he definitely still struggles with shedding blocks against NFL linemen.
Still, one of the greatest strengths of Bruener’s game coming out of college was his eyes against the run, and a surprising savvy in coverage. I wouldn’t rule out him playing a few more snaps than just one on that side of the ball in 2026. But either way, every team needs a special teams ace or two, and Bruener has more than met those expectations in his first year in the NFL.
EDGE, Jack Sawyer
RP: Admittedly, this was a tough prompt for me. Ryland pitched the idea with Bruener in mind, which took the Steelers’ special teams ace off the board. Two other noted special teamers, James Pierre and Miles Killebrew, have both moved on to other teams, and I’ve already written previously about Ben Skowronek, so I wasn’t keen on doing a repeat. I considered defensive lineman Esezi Otomewo and cornerback Brandin Echols as well, but neither fully piqued my interest as I went through their clips. So ultimately, I settled for a role player entering their second season, looking to take the next step in development: Steelers fourth-string OLB Jack Sawyer.
When Sawyer was drafted in the fourth round last year, both Ryland and I questioned if the Steelers had made a luxury pick. Sure, they were getting good value if you compared where Sawyer ranked on consensus big boards (65) to where they actually drafted him (123), but Sawyer tested as a decent athlete, not an uber athlete that tends to transition well to the NFL (see Nick Herbig). Pair that with the Steelers’ lack of pass catchers at the time, and that the Steelers were already struggling with how to balance their three talented pass rushers — and would continue to throughout the 2025 season — and it’s safe to say he fits the criteria for an underrated player.
I’m not here to say that Jack Sawyer is suddenly going to be the most important player on the Steelers’ defense, but after reviewing his rookie season, there are certainly reasons to be optimistic that he can contribute. Plus, he’s getting high praise from teammates like Nick Herbig, and will be joining a group of Steelers headed to Wisconsin to train with T.J. Watt.
As a rookie, Next Gen Stats credits Sawyer for 146 pass rush snaps and 16 pressures created. Watching all of them, I put that number more realistically at 12, as at least two were unblocked free rushes, and at least two others were plays where other Steelers pass rushers got to the quarterback quicker and seemed to influence the passer more. Still, if we go by Next Gen’s numbers, Sawyer created pressure on 11% of his pass-rush snaps. That isn’t a crazy number, but it does fall between what Watt (7.4%) and Herbig (14.5%) accomplished during their rookie seasons.
Sawyer had just one sack in 2025, and he got it out of the way early during the Steelers Week 2 matchup against the Seahawks. This play is one of the aforementioned free rushes Sawyer got, thanks in large part to a look I wish they had used more. Sawyer lines up with his hand in the dirt next to T.J. Watt. You’ll notice three different Seahawks are drawn to Watt, which gives Sawyer an easy path to the quarterback. To his credit, Sawyer closes quickly and cashes in for the sack.
Watching Sawyer’s tape, two things stood out to me about the plays where he found pass-rushing success. One is that Sawyer was fairly effective when asked to start out wide and then loop back in, closer to the middle of the line. He won far more reps working to the inside shoulder of the tackle than he did trying to go wide and around them. This could be a skillset that new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham looks to exploit in his reps, especially in formations where the Steelers attempt to get three or more of their edge rushers on the field at the same time. The second observation I would point out is to watch how well Sawyer hand-fights in the reels below.
And while Sawyer didn’t complete the sack on this rep, this was possibly my favorite one from his rookie year. Watch as he beats First-Team All-Pro Penei Sewell inside to disrupt this pass.
The Steelers also had Sawyer drop into coverage on 40 snaps in 2025. Sawyer is adequate enough in zone, but I wouldn’t ask him to do it a ton if I were Graham, and I certainly wouldn’t ask him to provide man coverage unless I was certain the running back was going to be running a route to the flat. Sawyer was targeted 13 times and allowed a reception on all but two of those targets. Oddly enough, he did end up with two interceptions on the season. One against the Colts was a little fluky, as he was rushing the passer and had the wherewithal to come down with a ball that had been batted by Herbig. However, his interception against the Browns was much more impressive, as he showed good eyes and anticipation to break on the Shedeur Sanders’ pass.
But where I think Sawyer could be invaluable to the Steelers in 2026 is against the run. Again, I’m not here to tell you that Sawyer played perfectly in this phase as a rookie, but there was plenty to like on his tape. In the reel below, we see Sawyer:
- Coming up the middle to stonewall a run.
- Hitting the fullback to disengage and set the edge before making the tackle.
- Knifing through the offensive line to make a tackle on a run designed to go to the opposite side of the field.
Sawyer played 295 defensive snaps in 2025. I don’t think we’ll see him get much more than 300-350 in 2026 unless the Steelers commit to a much more frequent rotation. I don’t think that would be the worst thing, but I do think they’ll have a hard time convincing Watt to take fewer snaps. He played nearly 200 more snaps than both Highsmith and Herbig, and just over 500 more snaps than Sawyer. If they can, though, getting Sawyer on the field in more early down situations would be a great way to save some tread on Watt’s tires, and it’d help keep Highsmith and Herbig fresh too.
I’m not projecting huge sack totals from Sawyer, but if he could add between 5-7 sacks, that would be a great boost to the defense. And if there are any injuries the Steelers have to manage, Sawyer’s importance to the defense will only grow.
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 @RyanParishMedia, or email us at steelersreadnreact@gmail.com.
