Ian Hartitz presents the team needs for the Pittsburgh Steelers going into the NFL Draft and 2025 season.

The Steelers didn't exactly enter 2024 with sky-high expectations given their lack of a long-term answer under center, but a 10-3 start suddenly had fans dreaming that maybe this season could be different. Sadly, Russell Wilson and Co. dropped each of their final five contests by an average of 13.2 points, once again leaving the franchise in limbo ahead of 2025.

It remains to be seen who will be leading this offense next season; either way it's safe to say Steelers Nation is growing a bit tired of "the standard," considering Pittsburgh is currently in the midst of the league's eighth-longest drought without winning a playoff game.

Today we'll recap some of the good and bad of 2024 before getting into potential offseason injuries to monitor as well as team needs ahead of the 2025 offseason.

As always: It's a great day to be great.

PITTSBURGH STEELERS 2024 RECAP

  • Record: 10-7 (8.5 preseason win total)
  • Points per game: 22.4 (16th)
  • EPA per dropback: +0.051 (19th)
  • EPA per rush: -0.124 (24th)
  • Points per game allowed: 20.4 (8th)
  • Leading passer: Russell Wilson (2,482 pass yards, 16 TD, 5 INT)
  • Leading rusher: Najee Harris (263 carries, 1,043 yards, 6 TD)
  • Leading receiver: George Pickens (59 receptions, 900 yards, 3 TD)

 

Biggest surprise: QB Russell Wilson

It's not like Russ got back to partying like it's 2015 again with the Steelers, but it was at least a step back in the right direction.

 

However, the one thing that hasn't gone out of style just yet: Wilson's patented moon ball! Overall, nobody had a higher passer rating (126.3) or averaged more yards per attempt (16.1) on passes thrown at least 20 yards downfield in 2024 (including playoffs).

Even if the season didn't end the way fans wanted, the artist known as DangeRuss deserves credit for winning six of his first seven starts in Pittsburgh. He was quite easily the best passer the franchise has seen in the post-Big Ben era (low bar, I know); we'll see if the performance was good enough to earn him a second shot under center in 2025.

Biggest disappointment: WR Roman Wilson

The Steelers drafted Wilson in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft to presumably work as their No. 2 pass-game target.

One problem: Injuries.

  • July 30: Wilson suffered a Grade 2 ankle sprain, causing him to miss most of training camp and the first two games of the season.
  • Oct. 17: The rookie was a surprise addition to the injury report with a hamstring injury. This continued to keep him sidelined, with head coach Mike Tomlin noting that Wilson "needs to work for me to really consider him."
  • Oct. 28: Wilson was placed on injured reserve.
  • Dec. 31: The Steelers designated Wilson to return from IR.
  • Jan. 2: Pittsburgh declined to activate Wilson off IR, ending his season.

Wilson ended his rookie season with five total snaps and zero receptions. Here's to hoping Year 2 provides better returns for the shifty Michigan product.

Key Injuries

The Steelers are tentatively believed to not be dealing with any major fantasy-relevant injuries ahead of next season. Hell, yeah!

 

What Are The Biggest Needs of the Steelers Ahead Of 2025?

Team Need No. 1: Quarterback

This one is fairly simple: The entire QB room is entering free agency and it's unclear if either Russell Wilson or Justin Fields earned enough trust to get the nod moving forward.

Intriguingly, owner Art Rooney noted the Steelers anticipate signing either Fields or Wilson, but likely not both. Rooney ideally wants more than a one-year deal at QB.

Age certainly favors Fields (26 in March) over Wilson (37 next November), and the dual-threat talent certainly offers far more upside on the ground these days. However, the passing performance was also even closer than many probably think.

Neither was exactly a world-beater through the air—it'd make sense if the Steelers look to finally make a real splash via a legit investment in the position for a change—but clearly one of these signal-callers offers quite a bit more potential long-term upside than the other.

Team Need No. 2: Wide Receiver

This is a major need even before considering the outside possibility that Tomlin and Co. are growing especially tired of George Pickens', ahem, antics?

But yeah: Even keeping Pickens around as the No. 1 WR leaves the offense quite thin at the position. Each of Mike Williams, Van Jefferson, and Scotty Miller are hitting free agency, while the aforementioned disappointing debut of Roman Wilson doesn't exactly leave him as a piece capable to overly rely on.

 

Currently the Giants, Chargers, and Chiefs are the only teams with fewer 2025 dollars devoted to their WR room. Whether it's investing in one of free agency's various veteran options at the position, or using one of their three top-85 picks on a young WR: Let's try to get more than one WR any QB could overly trust in this offense and see what happens.

Team Need No. 3: Offensive Line

We could have also gone with cornerback here considering starters Donte Jackson and Cameron Sutton are both hitting free agency, but the reality that the Steelers are currently spending $40.5 million additional 2025 dollars than the next-closest team on their defense … and $28.2 million less than any other team on their offense … has me leaning toward solely offensive improvements here.

And the offensive line needs it: PFF's 27th-ranked group from last season must replace starting G James Daniels as well as LT Dan Moore. They did deal with plenty of injuries; just realize this offense ranked 25th in yards before contact per rush and 29th in pressure rate. That's bad!