UNITY TWP., Pa. —As each day passes here at St. Vincent College, one thing becomes more and more clear—the Pittsburgh Steelers defense is light-years ahead of where the offense is at this stage in the proceedings.
This is most notable when the starters are out there on the field. Even without very much participation from guys Cam Heyward and T.J. Watt in team periods, they've dominated the trenches and routinely reset the line of scrimmage on run plays. The gap on passing downs is possibly even larger, with the defensive backs swarming all over the wide receivers and forcing scramble drill opportunities at seemingly every turn.
Is the offense struggling, or is the defense just that dominant? It's really an eye-of-the-beholder sort of thing, but it's still early. Let's not get too ahead of ourselves here.
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Scotty Miller at OTAs on June 5, 2025. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
It's been encouraging to see a guy like Scotty Miller string together some nice practices in an effort to crack the 53-man roster once again, but the alarm bells start going off when he's arguably been the second-best playmaker from the group. With Calvin Austin III out at least in the short term, it would be really surprising if the team didn't pursue an addition at this point. Roc Taylor has quickly established a nice rapport with rookie signal caller Will Howard , and even though there have been some inconsistencies from one rep to another, a solid preseason outing would make him a practice squad candidate.
For obvious reasons, most of the buzz surrounding training camp has been surrounding Aaron Rodgers as he continues to acclimate himself to Arthur Smith's offense. It's been a slow start, particularly for his standards, but his detail-oriented approach stands out. Prior to practice, Miller stated that "if you aren't where you're supposed to be when you're supposed to be there, the ball might hit you in the facemask."
An on-field example from Sunday's practice came when Roman Wilson ran an out-breaker, presumably at the wrong depth, which caused the ball to fall incomplete. The future Hall of Famer gave him feedback after the rep was concluded.
Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker Nick Herbig at training camp on July 30, 2025. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
Alex Highsmith exited practice with a groin injury that will require further examination. For as stellar of a player as he is, the Steelers depth at the edge spot is one of the strongest areas of the entire roster. We have proof of concept that Nick Herbig is an electric pass rusher, having put some of the league's best tackles in a blender at times during his first two seasons. He showed off his ability to set the edge today in practice, creating knockback on the tight end to force a zone rushing play back inside.
His partner in crime, Jack Sawyer , ran down the play from the backside and was quick to get up and celebrate. His size, hand usage, and overall activity in the run game have stood out since the team put the pads on.
Pittsburgh Steelers safety Chuck Clark at training camp on July 31, 2025. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
By Alan Saunders
The Steelers ran two full-contact team run periods on Sunday, in addition to the practice-opening seven shots and a practice-closing goal line drill. That's a whole lot of tackling.
One one rep during the second team run period, Mason Rudolph ran a play action bootleg to his right and threw to Kenneth Gainwell on angle route. Chuck Clark came crashing down from his safety spot, and let up by just throwing an arm around Gainwell. The back spun to the outside and took off up the sideline for a touchdown.
Clark said after practice that he forget it was a live period — an easy mistake to make for the ninth-year veteran, who said he's never experience as much live tackling in a practice as the Steelers went through on Sunday.
By Alan Saunders
The most dominant performance of training camp in seven shots went in the way of the defense, with a near-whitewashing in a 6-1 victory.
🏈 Aaron Rodgers ran a play action bootleg to his right, but threw low for Jonnu Smith on an out route. Jalen Ramsey was in coverage.
🏈 Rodgers looked for an out-breaker to the left side, but threw too long for Ben Skowronek , who had Darius Slay all over him.
🏈 Rodgers couldn't find anyone open, felt some pressure from Alex Highsmith, and bailed from the pocket to his right. Patrick Queen continued the pressure on the edge, forcing a throw away.
🏈 Trey Sermon took a toss to the right, tried to cut it back when he found James Pierre in his path. DeMarvin Leal then swarmed him from behind for a tackle for loss.
🏈 Mason Rudolph threw a slant to the left for JJ Galbreath, and while the rookie tight end was open, the ball was delivered well behind him.
🏈 Evan Hull finally got the offense on the board with a tough run up the middle, stretching the ball over the goal line.
🏈 Will Howard tried to find Roc Taylor in the left corner of the end zone, but Quindell Johnson had good coverage and the ball was too long, out of bounds.
By Alan Saunders
🏈 OLB Alex Highsmith left practice with a groin injury of undetermined severity, head coach Mike Tomlin said.
🏈 OT Gareth Warren did not practice and had a sleeve on his left left.
🏈 TE DJ Thomas-Jones (left calf/ankle) and C Ryan McCollum (left leg) both returned to action.
🏈 OT Calvin Anderson (lower body, soft tissue), WR Calvin Austin III (undisclosed), CB Joey Porter Jr. (hand), DT Esezi Otomewo (right knee), CB Donte Kent (right foot/ankle) and CB Cory Trice (hamstring) all missed practice.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : Steelers Camp Takeaways: Steelers Defense Way Ahead of Offense
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