Once Mike Tomlin stepped down as the Pittsburgh Steelers head coach, so much of the conversation surrounding the team has been expectedly geared towards the Steelers' coaching search to find his successor. Because of that, we haven't truly had time to reflect back on the 2025 campaign for the club.
Obviously, all 32 franchises begin each year aspiring to become Super Bowl champs, but aside from a handful of well-constructed teams, that goal just isn't very realistic. So, how can we define whether this journey was a success or failure?
Despite misguided offseason notions from those in the national media, the Steelers never pushed the chips all the way in , instead opting for remaining competitive, rather than initiating a rebuild. Everyone is more than welcome to have their opinions on whether or not that was the right approach, but it's difficult to argue their actual intent.
As has often been the case for the vast majority of the last decade, Pittsburgh was a solid team that couldn't quite escape the middle class of the NFL. Regardless of yet another Wild Card exit, I would argue that this season was a successful endeavor for one simple reason: the massive strides taken along the offensive line.
The Steelers sent a clear and obvious message during t,he 2024 NFL Draft, selecting offensive tackle Troy Fautanu and center Zach Frazier with their first two picks before doubling back with guard Mason McCormick on day three. Their vision was to get back to winning with their bigs in the trenches and they knew it would take a significant investment to replenish the talent cupboard up front. The best part? It didn't take long for them to reap the rewards of those decisions.
Frazier proved that his impressive rookie season was far from a fluke, remaining remarkably consistent on a weekly basis. His ability to execute a myriad of different assignments in the run game makes him someone that they can legitimately build their rushing attack around moving forward, regardless of scheme. Whether it's reach blocks, displacing defenders on combos, getting out in space on pulls or screen passes – his robust skill set opens up the playbook. His stout anchor helps set the depth of the pocket and he looked more comfortable passing off twists and games as the season wore on, something you'd expect to improve with time on task.
In his first season at a brand new position on the right side, Fautanu's athleticism and unique play style gave the Steelers something they simply haven't had at the tackle position in a very, very long time. His strikes in pass pro are every bit as quick as they are powerful, and his ability to get out of his stance give him an early advantage versus even the springiest of edge rushers. He's an on-the-fly problem solver that can give himself out of compromising positions, with the next step being decreasing the amount of reps where that recovery ability is actually necessary. There were a handful of reps of him reaching the second-level in the run game that aren't in the wheelhouse of the average player at his position.
Going forward, it's not outside the realm of possibility that both of these players are top-five guys at their respective positions and organizational pillars for this team. That alone gives them both a floor to rely on and ceiling to get excited about. It shouldn't be too difficult to fill in the pieces around them. At worst, McCormick is a baseline starter type that is worth investing in throughout the final two years of his rookie deal. Seumalo is aging with some injury concerns, which makes his return a bit murky, but his film was as good as ever when healthy. The Broderick Jones experience hasn't panned out, but the emergence of Dylan Cook at least provides them with another bullet in the chamber.
To me, the main objective was to ensure that this would be a stable environment for a young quarterback to step into next season. Sure, the 2026 quarterback class isn't inspiring to say the least, which throws a wrench into things. But regardless of who ends up under center for the Steelers offense next season, the offensive line and reliable run game is going to give them a fighting chance to succeed.
So, despite another rather non-competitive early postseason exit, the future is bright up front and becuause of that, there's plenty of warranted optimism for the future.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : Bell: Why 2025 Season Was Still a Success for Steelers
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