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What are the Steelers getting after Monday’s blockbuster trade?
The Steelers are once again in the NFL headlines after pulling off a blockbuster trade with the Miami Dolphins. With apologies to Mason McCormick, we’ll be pushing back his turn at “2024 in Review” for a second time due to big additions being made to the 2025 Steelers.
As always, Ryan and Ryland will divvy up the film work. This week, the division of labor is easy with the Steelers getting not one, but two new playmakers.
Ryland, why don’t you get us started?
What are the Steelers getting in new defensive back Jalen Ramsey?

Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images
RB: I’ve been rather lukewarm on the Steelers’ recent trade, but there’s plenty of room for cautious optimism. Jonnu Smith is a fun player in his own right, but it’s veteran cornerback Jalen Ramsey who I’m most excited to see in the black and gold.
The surest path to Pittsburgh winning this trade is Ramsey balling out. Even at 30 years old, he can absolutely still play.
What stands out immediately is Ramsey’s aggression. He’ll fit right in alongside DeShon Elliott — his former teammate — in the Pittsburgh secondary. Ramsey has no fear triggering downhill to make tackles, and despite being primarily a boundary corner in 2024, he relished his opportunities near the line of scrimmage.
New #Steelers CB Jalen Ramsey is a lot of fun to watch coming downhill pic.twitter.com/M8jQ4aU18b
— Ryland Bickley (@_Ryland_B) July 2, 2025
Ramsey was blitzed a lot in 2024, both from the outside and the slot. It’s a real asset in his game, and Ramsey shows the requisite burst and physicality to make an impact. Even though he doesn’t get home in any of the plays below, he still helps force an incompletion in each one.
Oft-used and effective as a blitzer pic.twitter.com/GHevF1qVx9
— Ryland Bickley (@_Ryland_B) July 2, 2025
Ramsey fits much better in the slot than Joey Porter Jr. and Darius Slay, and I assume the Steelers will want their top three cornerbacks all on the field as much as possible. If Ramsey plays there a lot in 2025, expect the nickel blitz to be a prominent feature of the Pittsburgh defense.
Another area where Ramsey surprised me was how successful he was setting the edge against the run. Again, he’s an incredibly willing and physical defender against the run, especially for a veteran at his position.
Here he is setting the edge. He’s unafraid of contact and an asset against the run pic.twitter.com/d7zNA7Lp6q
— Ryland Bickley (@_Ryland_B) July 2, 2025
Ramsey’s missed tackle rate jumped to 14.3% last season, just about double his career average. It’s a mild worry — there were definitely some wrap-up attempts he’d like back — but Ramsey still came across as an above-average tackler for a defensive back. And his disruptive style of play made up for some of the misses.
Ramsey’s versatility is a hallmark of his game. He played significant snaps at both right and left outside cornerback in 2024. He logged just over 150 snaps in the slot, and although he didn’t dabble much at safety, the Dolphins would sometimes use an inverted Tampa 2 look that would have Ramsey defending a deep half. He looked comfortable playing man, zone, press, and off coverage.
Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver was one of the more creative coverage minds in the NFL last season, and Ramsey’s ability to be a standout starter anywhere in the secondary was huge for the Miami scheme.
Rams rotate their pre/post snap coverage looks at a league-high 46% clip. Chris Shula chart pic.twitter.com/XBkKsWqVgO
— Football Insights (@fball_insights) January 17, 2025
What’s also worth noting is that Ramsey, as well as Steelers free agent addition Darius Slay, have experience in Vic Fangio’s quarters and match-heavy defensive scheme. Reportedly, that’s a defensive wrinkle the Steelers might explore more in 2025. Fangio was Ramsey’s defensive coordinator in 2023, although Ramsey didn’t seem to be happy with how he was utilized that season.
As an aside to Ramsey’s implied frustrations with Fangio, the cornerback’s NFL career hasn’t exactly been drama-free. His tenure with the Jacksonville Jaguars ended with a lot of fireworks, and his time in Miami concluded with both sides seeking a trade despite Ramsey being just one year into a three-year, $72.3 million extension.
At the time, he was the highest-paid at his position; now, he’s still the third. It’s pretty clear his dispute with Miami didn’t have to do with money. And now, Ramsey comes to the Steelers, a team that has had its fair share of culture controversies in recent memory.
It’s worth bringing up, but as of now, Ramsey seems to be excited to be in Pittsburgh:
Break my own news! #HereWeGo @steelers pic.twitter.com/vnwJLZBDpM
— Jalen Ramsey (@jalenramsey) June 30, 2025
He’s still pretty good on the field, too.
In coverage, Ramsey shows some signs of age, but he’s not markedly slow. Here he is defending some downfield routes:
And he still has the speed, although not elite, to keep starting on the boundary pic.twitter.com/ANQmmGgKlu
— Ryland Bickley (@_Ryland_B) July 2, 2025
He was burned a few times in 2024, but it was rarely horrible.
Not the fastest anymore, but it’s rare to see him get scorched in coverage pic.twitter.com/LmcXlgtG8N
— Ryland Bickley (@_Ryland_B) July 2, 2025
In man coverage, receivers can get a step on Ramsey. But he tends to force a near-perfect throw if you’re going to beat him.
Generally the passing windows are small in man coverage pic.twitter.com/DTn4LnjXgB
— Ryland Bickley (@_Ryland_B) July 2, 2025
That’s because Ramsey’s recovery speed is still impressive. He closes gaps quickly and can generally make up for stumbles and false steps.
Generally, though, his recovery athleticism makes up for it pic.twitter.com/Lm2qyuGQSx
— Ryland Bickley (@_Ryland_B) July 2, 2025
I really liked this rep against a top-10 WR in Puka Nacua. Bad step right out of the gate, but Ramsey recovers and forces Nacua to the sideline. Incompletion. pic.twitter.com/x8M31ArnOn
— Ryland Bickley (@_Ryland_B) July 2, 2025
But his age does show in his reactionary speed. It’s far from bad, as Ramsey still moves fluidly and switches assignments in zone well, but sharp routes occasionally left him stumbling, creating quick separation.
His game still doesn’t have an Achilles heel, but he’s not consistently elite anymore when left on an island with the opponent’s WR1.
A few stumbles pic.twitter.com/pESnVtqvmq
— Ryland Bickley (@_Ryland_B) July 2, 2025
Can be just a tick late at times pic.twitter.com/7xBiferxzf
— Ryland Bickley (@_Ryland_B) July 2, 2025
Ramsey makes up for it with his football IQ. He’s anticipatory in coverage and mirrors incredibly well when playing off. He has moments of over-aggression, but generally has a good idea of where the receiver might go next, and where he needs to be positioned.
Ramsey’s not immune to being overaggressive, but generally shows a veteran’s patience and anticipation when playing off coverage. He’s still pretty fluid, too! pic.twitter.com/5OO9bCAtSt
— Ryland Bickley (@_Ryland_B) July 2, 2025
And to circle back to Ramsey’s physicality, he’s tough at the catch point and uses his 33 3/8” arms to disrupt. He’s always around the ball, with five interceptions over the last two seasons.
In coverage, he uses his length, closing speed, and physicality to disrupt at the catch point pic.twitter.com/17rJwyg9CJ
— Ryland Bickley (@_Ryland_B) July 2, 2025
Ramsey is still more than capable to start on the outside, but at 30 years old he is starting to show his age. In 2025, he should be a plus starter inside or outside.
In future years, a move to safety makes a lot of sense. It would capitalize on his physicality and instincts, letting him come downhill to make plays and hiding athletic deficiencies.
In the meantime, Ramsey’s versatility and aggressive style of play could provide a boost to a Steeler defense that felt stagnant at times last season. As with all defensive backs on the wrong side of 30, regression is a real concern, but Ramsey still looks like a quality defensive back.
However, it’s important to keep a balanced perspective on how much the Steelers defense has improved since trading for Ramsey. Yes, he’s still a good player, but so was Minkah Fitzpatrick. Is there a noticeable net gain on that side of the ball?
It’s impossible to pass judgment until we see how the Steelers utilize Ramsey, who still doesn’t have a clear role in their defense. I’m willing to bet it’ll be primarily in the slot, but the boundary and even free safety are absolutely in the cards.
And remember, Minkah Fitzpatrick is a versatile player himself. The Steelers just weren’t an exceptionally creative coverage team last year, while the Dolphins were. It’ll be interesting to see how Ramsey and Fitzpatrick’s respective games adapt as they swap schemes in the new year.
But if Ramsey does stick at cornerback in 2025, whether in the slot or on the boundary, he should have more opportunities at pass breakups and line of scrimmage splash plays than Fitzpatrick did as a single-high safety last year. That’s just the nature of each position, and you can see it in each player’s stats: Fitzpatrick had 36 more tackles as a player who was on cleanup duty a lot; Ramsey had more interceptions, passes defensed, and tackles for loss.
A focus of the Steelers’ defensive philosophy is splash plays, and Ramsey should provide more in 2025.
And while Fitzpatrick is the younger player, Ramsey, at least for the time being, is playing the more valuable position to a defense. As I wrote on Tuesday, the trade doesn’t leave the Steelers looking like particularly big winners — or losers.
Trade value aside, the seven-time Pro Bowler still looks the part and could definitely return to Orlando after 2025.
What about tight end Jonnu Smith?

Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images
RP: When looking at this trade, there’s little doubt that Ramsey is the name on the marquee. That said, Smith is coming off a career year in which he set career highs in targets (111), receptions (88), yards (884), touchdowns (8) and first downs converted (55).
It’s unlikely that Pittsburgh will provide him the same amount of opportunities that Miami’s circumstances afforded him in 2024, but there’s a case to be made that he was the best offensive weapon available on the market. And while the fit may feel a bit clunky with Smith having a similar skillset to Pat Freiermuth, it’s hard to fault the Steelers for adding another pass-catcher to an offense with questionable depth behind DK Metcalf, Freiermuth, and Calvin Austin III. Not to mention this is now the third different team that Jonnu and Arthur Smith have joined forces on. There’s clearly some chemistry there.
So, what does Jonnu Smith bring to the table?
Evaluating Smith is a little more straightforward than parsing out all the responsibilities on defense for a player like Ramsey. For our purposes today, Smith’s role is much simpler. The Steelers need him to be a playmaker in the passing game, and he needs to be at least an adequate blocker for how often the Steelers are going to want to line up in 12 and 13 personnel — i.e., plays with two or three tight ends on the field at once. Spoiler alert, he does one of those things much better than the other.
As a pass catcher, he has reliable hands. In four of the past six seasons, Smith’s dropped 2 passes or fewer, never dropping more than three passes in a season during that period.
But where he makes his money might surprise you.
Despite his 4.62-speed, Smith has never been a consistent vertical threat, never having more than two targets of 20+ yards in a single season. Part of that is because he’s a bit stiffer and more of a linear runner while he’s running his routes. To be fair, that’s not entirely unusual for a tight end. For his career, Smith has converted 4-of-11 targets for 158 yards and 2 touchdowns in this area of the field.
Jonnu Smith had just one target of 20 yards or deeper in 2024. He made it count, even if the timing was off pic.twitter.com/0N4ztt6nda
— Ryan Parish (@RyanParishmedia) July 3, 2025
Where Smith thrives is with the ball in his hands in space, appearing much looser and more fluid with his movements on these types of routes. That’s why he’s often been used in the short-to-intermediate areas, and even on screens. Of Smith’s 433 career targets, 20.7% have come behind the line of scrimmage and 72.2% have been no further than 10 yards downfield.
This should be his primary role for the Steelers, and he should get a healthy dose of drags/shallow crossers, short in-breaking routes, hook and hitch routes, screens, and checkdowns.
PROS: Reliable hands with YAC ability on shorter routes as part of the quick game or as a late checkdown, which should pair well with Rodgers’ current strengths. pic.twitter.com/U8nxbB0ZTH
— Ryan Parish (@RyanParishmedia) July 3, 2025
Smith can also contribute in the intermediate (10-19 yards) part of the field, though he doesn’t have a particularly complex route tree. Still, Smith’s hands are reliable enough to keep defenses honest in this part of the field.
Smith hasn’t traditionally run many deep or intermediate routes, but here are some wins on out-breaking routes pic.twitter.com/7gOJfB2Cx3
— Ryan Parish (@RyanParishmedia) July 3, 2025
It will be interesting to see where Smith falls in the pecking order for targets. Many of the routes he runs are routes that Freiermuth is equally equipped for, and in many cases, runs better.
Smith saw a dramatic increase in production in large part thanks to Miami’s ineffective line, and the injuries experienced by their two best receivers. His 111 targets blew his previous career high (70) — which he achieved in 2023, his lone season with Arthur Smith in Atlanta, where he was the TE2 behind Kyle Pitts — completely out of the water. For context, Freiermuth had 78 total targets last season. Rodgers, meanwhile, targeted tight ends 108 times between the trio of Tyler Conklin (72), Jeremy Ruckert (28) and Kenny Yeboah (8).
Where this could go poorly for Pittsburgh is Smith’s blocking. Smith isn’t the worst blocker I’ve ever seen, but he certainly isn’t winning any awards. That could complicate things for the Steelers as they try to mix and match their personnel and how they have them aligned. Going into this exercise, I was inclined to think Smith might thrive in a hybrid H-Back/fullback role, especially if you could get him moving pre-snap, but the results on tape were underwhelming. Smith has never lined up in a backfield for more than 29 snaps in an entire season, and when you see his run blocking, it’s not too difficult to see why.
Here we see a wide toss play. Ideally, both the tight ends would finish a little better on the defensive end they double-teamed, and then Smith, as the inside blocker, would climb to the next level to engage the linebacker.
Doesn’t manage either on this play and it’s a loss pic.twitter.com/lA650r0V1o
— Ryan Parish (@RyanParishmedia) July 3, 2025
Smith has athleticism that makes him a versatile piece on paper, but the finer details of blocking can elude him.
Here, he engages a defender, but comes in too high and has no leverage. He’s immediately pushed backwards, running into another blocker and clogging the lane. pic.twitter.com/5Ly5KK8Jbg
— Ryan Parish (@RyanParishmedia) July 3, 2025
These are just two plays, of course, but Smith’s high pads and sloppy technique are all over his film as a run blocker.
Cons: Run blocking
If you get frustrated by the blocking of Pat Freiermuth and Connor Heyward, you’ll have plenty of the same complaints about Smith as a blocker, whether he’s in-line or coming from the backfield.
Some whiffs pic.twitter.com/SMajUx6g8L
— Ryan Parish (@RyanParishmedia) July 3, 2025
This will make things tricky for the Steelers. If they pull Smith and insert Washington whenever they want to run the ball from 12 personnel, that becomes a fairly obvious tell and defeats Arthur Smith’s goal of keeping defenses off balance by running several plays out of the same personnel and alignment packages. But the alternative isn’t much better.
If they keep Washington in as the TE2 to block, that would likely reduce Smith to the Conner Heyward/Mycole Pruitt, and you don’t hand over a $12 million extension to somebody for such a small role. Likewise, I can’t see the Steelers drastically reducing Freiermuth’s role after signing him through 2028 last summer.
So will that mean less Washington? Perhaps, especially if Aaron Rodgers once again finishes near the top of the league in passes attempted. Washington has some freaky athletic traits, but he’s not a smooth runner whose value comes from blocking. If the Steelers plan to run the ball as much as we think, that could mean choosing to leave one of their highest-paid pass catchers or their best blocker on the sideline.
And if you’re screaming that they’ll just use more 13 personnel, remember that the Steelers used that grouping for just 15.2% of their offensive snaps in 2024, and that was the 8th-most in the NFL. I’m all for getting weird this season on offense, but that feels important context when framing our expectations.
It will be an interesting balance for Arthur Smith to strike. I know I sound pessimistic, but I ultimately agree with Ryland and remain cautiously optimistic that the Steelers can prove they got better, at least in the short term, with this trade. As both an NFL Draft obsessive and a fantasy football enthusiast, I’ve long admired Smith from afar and felt his skill set was underutilized and/or miscast, especially during his time in New England. I am happy to see him suit up in the black and gold.
But I also have some concerns with how it will all fit together cohesively. Arthur Smith will certainly face a unique set of challenges in 2025. Here’s hoping he brings his “A” game.
Join in on Steelers R&R by sharing your takes on this week’s topics in the comments. What are your thoughts on Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith as players? Feel free to pitch future questions in the comment section or on Twitter/X: tag @_Ryland_B or @RyanParishMedia, or email us at steelersreadnreact@gmail.com