PITTSBURGH -- Hours after running back Derrick Henry inked a two-year deal with the Baltimore Ravens early in last year's free agency period, the Pittsburgh Steelers secured inside linebacker Patrick Queen with a three-year contract.
Even if the timing wasn't intentional, the signings felt like corresponding moves on a chessboard: The Ravens beef up their run game; the Steelers ink a defender to stop it.
But Henry's signing proved to be the ultimate checkmate as the Ravens ran all over the Steelers in their two late-season meetings, including nearly 300 rushing yards in a 28-14 wild-card playoff loss.
Though the Steelers finished as a top-10 team in run defense, their poor showings against the league's top rushing units late in the season suggest they should consider breaking recent precedent and select a defensive player in the first round of April's draft for the first time in six years.
"On the defensive side, it starts with stopping the run, and we didn't do that down the stretch," team owner and president Art Rooney II said in his end-of-season news conference. "So we need to figure out how we get stronger, probably on the defensive front."
The Steelers haven't selected a defensive player with their first-round pick since they traded up to select linebacker Devin Bush No. 10 overall in 2019, though they also landed safety Minkah Fitzpatrick from the Miami Dolphins in a trade that included their 2020 first-round pick. Bush capped a seven-year stretch of consecutive defensive first-round picks. From 2013 to 2019, the Steelers also drafted linebackers Jarvis Jones, Ryan Shazier, Bud Dupree, cornerback Artie Burns, linebacker T.J. Watt and safety Terrell Edmunds. Of those, only Watt is still on the roster.
The Steelers picked up Shazier's fifth-year option, but his career was cut short by a catastrophic spinal injury during his fourth season. And though Dupree was franchise-tagged after playing out his fifth-year option, he ultimately didn't remain with the team for a second contract. Though the Steelers haven't used their premium first-round pick on a defensive player recently, general manager Omar Khan has received good value from his seven defensive picks in his first two drafts.
The team selected linebacker Payton Wilson in the third round a year ago, and he turned in a solid rookie season with an interception, a forced fumble, two fumble recoveries and 78 tackles. Khan's two other defensive picks, defensive end Logan Lee and safety Ryan Watts, were on injured reserve all of 2024. Khan's 2023 defensive picks have had an even bigger impact.
Second-round selection Joey Porter Jr. has started 27 of 33 games in his two-year career, while fellow second-rounder nose tackle Keeanu Benton started 23 games and recorded two forced fumbles and an interception. Outside linebacker Nick Herbig, a fourth-round pick, sat out time because of a hamstring injury in his second season, but he has proved to be a solid rotational pass rusher with 8.5 sacks and six forced fumbles in two seasons. And seventh-round cornerback Cory Trice, who sat out his rookie season because of an ACL tear, grabbed an interception and had 21 tackles in six appearances in 2024.
Should the Steelers break with their recent trend and go with a first-round defensive player, the team has several options.
If Khan wants to make a big splash and trade up, the Steelers could look at Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham, an elite do-everything interior defensive lineman with national championship pedigree and a fierce run-stopping reputation. To land Graham, though, the Steelers probably would have to jump Jacksonville, which holds the No. 5 pick and also has a significant need for a difference-making defensive player.
The Steelers could also consider Ole Miss defensive tackle Walter Nolen, another interior lineman who earned consensus All-America honors with 14.0 tackles for loss and was part of a defensive unit that held opponents to 80.5 rushing yards per game and 2.3 yards per carry. Another option is Oregon defensive tackle Derrick Harmon, who led all FBS tackles with 34 pressures in 2024 and had 10.5 tackles for loss, five sacks, three passes defended and two forced fumbles.
If the Steelers opt to address other areas of the defense in the first round, they could also look at Kentucky cornerback Maxwell Hairston or Michigan cornerback Will Johnson to pair with Porter. Still, addressing the run defense with a first-round pick would seem to be the best use of the team's resources if they go with a defensive selection.
The Steelers' rushing defense technically improved from 2023 to 2024, holding opponents to an average of nine fewer yards last season for 109.8 yards per game. But the run defense wilted against the league's best rushing attacks. Not only did the Steelers give up 299 rushing yards in their wild-card loss, they also allowed the Ravens to rack up 220 yards in the Week 16 meeting.
"The Ravens present a unique challenge in terms of their run game," coach Mike Tomlin said in January. "You got to play 11-on-11 football, and at times we could have performed better schematically and at times we could have performed better as individuals, particularly the last two games that we played them.
"We didn't do a good enough job of controlling that component of the game and that leads to possession-down play and situational play, and we didn't have them in enough one-dimensional circumstances to create the type of negativity that's been a calling card of us winning those games with consistency."
And though the Eagles emphasized their passing attack in a Week 15 win, the ground game still picked up 131 yards with help from a 22-yard run by Saquon Barkley and a 23-yard run by Jalen Hurts. The Eagles also picked up 10 first downs on the ground, helping them nearly double the Steelers' time of possession.
"There were several possession downs where we had a ball carrier netted short of the line to gain, and he made us miss and move the chains," Tomlin said after the Eagles' loss. "Not only do you lose that down, and that's why we call them weighty downs, but those were drive-producing type plays and time-of-possession type plays. You make those plays so you don't have to make plays that follow, and we didn't. We didn't tackle well enough, specifically in those instances."
Though the Steelers invested in the defensive line in each of their past seven drafts, the unit needs to be replenished. Benton, who started 14 games in 2024, is a promising young prospect, but the unit around him is aging. Cameron Heyward, who turns 36 in May, had one of his best seasons in 2024 with eight sacks and a career-high 11 passes defended, but he's set to enter the final year of his contract. Larry Ogunjobi, 31, has been valuable in the run defense when he's healthy, but moving on from him would save the team $7 million in cap space. Others on the 2024 line -- Montravius Adams, DeMarvin Leal and Isaiahh Loudermilk -- dealt with injuries and were inconsistent throughout the season.
Evaluating exactly why the Steelers' run defense faltered late is one of Tomlin's offseason priorities, he said in January.
"Those are questions that are going to be answered over the course of a longer period of time as we study not only our personnel but our schematics and the combinations of both," Tomlin said. "And we'll also look at trends in the game, the quarterback mobility component, the design quarterback run component is a component of the discussion as well and making sure that we are in the right lanes in that regard schematically. And so there's a lot of complex discussions to be had and things to analyze in that regard, but I'm excited about embarking on it."