How good will the Pittsburgh Steelers be in 2025? Well, two-time Super Bowl champion QB Ben Roethlisberger believes the Steelers are all-in on this season. Analyst Dan Orlovsky isn’t so sure. But what he does know is that there are three key questions the Steelers have to answer in order to be a really good football team this year.
Unsurprisingly, all three issues are on the offensive side of the ball.
“The season comes down to three things, reality when it comes to the ultimate goal,” Orlovsky said Wednesday on The Pat McAfee Show. “One, this is the biggest question mark: can the offensive line not only get improved but stay healthy for an extended period of time? This isn’t Rodgers of four, five, six, 10 years ago, where he can move and cover up for that stuff. This was a very poor offensive line last year when it came to pass protection. So, can that offensive line take a massive jump?
“If so, then I think this offense has a chance to be good.”
Orlovsky isn’t joking that the Steelers’ offensive line struggled against the pass in 2024. Defenses sacked quarterbacks Justin Fields and Russell Wilson a combined 49 times in 17 regular-season games. Now, that’s not all on the offensive line, of course. Both Fields and Wilson are notorious for holding on to the ball too long.
But that doesn’t absolve the offensive linemen completely, either. Last year’s starting left tackle, Dan Moore Jr., is no longer with the team. And Pro Football Focus graded him as being responsible for 12 of the team’s 49 sacks. He also committed five penalties and received a pass blocking grade of 66.2, the 65th-ranked tackle out of 140 graded.
But Moore’s likely replacement, Broderick Jones, fared even worse last year. Jones played right tackle, which is not his college position. But PFF gave him a 54.6 pass blocking grade, 97th out of 140. And PFF graded him as giving up 10 tackles while being flagged 10 times. Perhaps playing at his natural left tackle position will result in an improvement. But Check The Mic’s Sam Monson thinks Jones’ performance will sink the Steelers’ season if he doesn’t improve.
A lot of eyes will be on OT Troy Fautanu this offseason. He was slated to start at right tackle, but he only played one game last season, Week 2 against the Denver Broncos. He missed the rest of the season due to knee issues. Fautanu says he’s fully healthy right now, which is fantastic. But the Steelers are counting on him in a big way for 2025. When Orlovsky talked about staying healthy on the line, Fautanu’s name should be at the top of the players you’d be concerned about.
Orlovsky’s second point closely aligns with his first point: Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers’ health. The offensive line’s performance will be a big part of that. As Orlovsky said, this isn’t the same Rodgers who was winning MVP awards with the Green Bay Packers. He’ll turn 42 in December. He can’t cover up offensive line issues like he used to with his mobility and athleticism. If he’s unable to stay pretty healthy throughout 2025, his performance and, therefore, the performance of the entire team will suffer.
Rodgers also factors into Orlovsky’s third major point. But it’s more about the mental part of the game and his relationship with his offensive coordinator.
“The third thing will be the reality of him and Arthur Smith when things go poorly,” Orlovsky said. “Him and Arthur Smith are both strong personalities… When things go, maybe hit lows, when they have some moments of struggle, when there’s some lack of continuity, how do they work together and figure it out for the big scheme of the offense?”
The NFL regular season is long. The Steelers obviously hope to be playing much longer than the 17 regular-season games. That means there will be adversity, there will be struggles. That’s the reality of life in the NFL. It’s not about avoiding those moments, though we all want to. It’s about how they will respond. Will Aaron Rodgers continue to embrace a new (final?) chapter in his career, one willing to not be in complete and utter control?
And will Arthur Smith be willing to build his offense with Aaron Rodgers in mind? If the answer to both of those questions is yes, they’ll work together just fine. But if Rodgers acts like many people think he does, or Smith doesn’t show flexibility in his scheme and playcalling, then the season could spiral out of control when they hit turbulence.
But if the Steelers can navigate these three things well, Orlovsky thinks this will be a good year.
“These three things will determine how good this offense and team will be,” Orlovsky said. “I still find it to be a good football team now that they’ve made their final moves.”
The Steelers don’t want to be just a good football team, though. They want to be great this year, and they think these moves will make it happen. Orlovsky doesn’t.
“I do not believe this is a Super Bowl-winning team,” Orlovsky said.
Only time will tell.
