6 forgotten Steelers headed into training camp

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These players have a better chance at the final 53-man roster than many expect:

The preseason is just weeks away. Training camp is just over one week away. It’s almost time to start discussing who will make the final cut as the Steelers begin to piece together their roster for the 2025 NFL season.

Who are some names who might be forgotten in that discourse? Here are six players with possible to probable chances at the final 53 who have slipped off the radar over the offseason:

DL Esezi Otomewo

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Cam Heyward, Keeanu Benton, and Derrick Harmon are certain roster locks for the Steelers. Yahya Black and Daniel Ekuale feel like locks. But the Steelers kept eight defensive linemen on their initial 53-man roster last year, leaving three spots, give or take, available for the remaining D-linemen on the team.

Otomewo might be the most forgotten Steelers free agent addition of the new season. To be fair, the defensive end’s one-year, $1.03 million contract doesn’t exactly scream big signing. But his path to the final 53 is more likely than you might think.

Otomewo has appearances in nine NFL games and two career starts over his three seasons in the NFL. The former fifth-round pick is still just 26, and he’s a good athlete with intriguing size and length with nearly-35-inch arms.

Per PFF, Otomewo had nine pressures and one sack on just 53 pass rush snaps in 2024. He could be a younger alternative to Dean Lowry or a more experienced option compared to Logan Lee in the fight for a spot on the final 53.

OT Dylan Cook

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The Steelers didn’t add much to their offensive line room over the 2025 offseason, opening the door for some development from the names already there.

Offensive tackle Dylan Cook has always been an intriguing talent. The former undrafted free agent joined the Steelers in 2023 out of Montana State. He made the switch from quarterback to offensive line while in college.

Cook made the Steelers’ 53-man roster in his first year with the team, but spent 2024 on the practice squad after starting the year on injured reserve.

Cook has yet to appear in a regular season NFL game, but he’s impressed over the preseason and training camp in the past. He’s played some guard and tackle, and currently looks like the Steelers’ second or third swing tackle behind Calvin Anderson and Spencer Anderson.

An athletic talent who learned the position late, Cook could still rise on the depth chart and make the final roster. He’s beaten the odds before.

DE/OLB DeMarvin Leal

The 2022 third-rounder never found his place in the Steelers defense, earning the dreaded “tweener” label with a skill set somewhere between an outside linebacker and a defensive end. Listed at 6’4, 290 pounds on the Steelers website, Leal has just six career starts over his three NFL seasons up to this point.

Playing more edge defender in 2024, Leal looked like an improved player during the preseason, disrupting plays and looking more explosive. He made the team’s final roster — Pittsburgh kept three true outside linebackers and Leal as a hybrid fourth — playing 51 defensive snaps over the first five games of the season in a rotational role.

However, a neck injury ended Leal’s season in Week 5. Now entering the last year of his rookie deal, he’ll need to improve on his momentum from 2024 as he fights for a roster spot yet again. It won’t be easy; the Steelers drafted a run-stopping OLB4 in Jack Sawyer in the fourth round, along with two defensive lineman in rounds No. 1 and 5 of the 2025 NFL Draft.

Leal is still just 25 years old, and his high draft pedigree shows that there’s still some upside. His odds for the final 53 aren’t great, but he’s made the squad the last three years and is still on the roster for a reason.

WR Brandon Johnson

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Johnson is the forgotten man in a rather wide-open Steelers wide receiver room. In 2023 on the Denver Broncos, the then-25-year-old logged 19 receptions for 284 yards and four touchdowns before signing with the Steelers the following year. In Pittsburgh last season, he appeared in three games as a practice squad elevation, recording just one catch for nine yards.

The fact that Johnson couldn’t crack a somewhat dismal receiver rotation last year for Pittsburgh isn’t the greatest sign for his upcoming season, but in 2025 he’s been labelled as a “sneaky good” candidate by none other than his own coach.

“I don’t overlook him because this is the third place I’ve coached him,” Steelers wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni said via Sports Illustrated in June. “I recruited him to Tennessee, I got him to Denver, he did the rest there. Helped get him here, thank God they listened to me and brought him here, because he’s a sneaky good player. I’m really excited about where he’s at, he can help us. I’m able to coach him hard, he’s our type of player.”

Azzanni has now coached Johnson in three different locations and still seems bullish on his future. The receiver has a path to the final roster as well. Behind D.K. Metcalf, Pittsburgh has a glut of smaller slot options, and the smooth athleticism and 6’2, 195-pound frame of Johnson could prove a useful alternative skill set.

Johnson’s 2023 Denver tape is surprisingly good. He’s been a fairly productive rotational player on the boundary before, and has the chance to do so again in 2025.

LB Mark Robinson

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Steelers seventh-round rookie linebacker Carson Bruener is the shiny new toy in the linebacker room, but he’ll have to get through Mark Robinson before he solidifies a 53-man roster spot. And Robinson has a better shot at sticking around than some might think.

Robinson was one of just four Steelers last year to play over 300 snaps on special teams, and he even logged back-to-back weeks with a kickoff return forced fumble late in the year. It’s not a glamorous position, but Robinson has become an integral piece of the third phase of the game for Pittsburgh.

A seventh-round pick in 2022, Robinson had played just one full season at linebacker before making the NFL, starting his college career as a running back. Robinson’s aggression as a defender has never been questioned, but it was always understood that it would take some time for him to develop.

At 5’11, 235 pounds, Robinson may never be a true NFL defensive starter, but he’s proven to be a worthy investment due to his special teams capabilities. He’s appeared in a full 17 games in each of his last two seasons — entering the last year of his rookie deal, he’ll be fighting hard to stick around.

S Quindell Johnson

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With Minkah Fitzpatrick out of town, Juan Thornhill has seemingly received a promotion to the starting lineup. So who’s the new third safety?

It might be Jalen Ramsey in actuality. On the depth chart, it could be an outside addition or popular undrafted free agent Sebastian Castro. But right now, it’s likely unheralded free agent signing Quindell Johnson.

Described as “versatile” coming out of college in 2023, Johnson reportedly ran his 40-yard dash somewhere in the high 4.4s. He appeared in nine games with the Chicago Bears in 2023; he didn’t record a start, but did nab his first career interception over his 35 defensive snaps played. He logged another 106 on special teams.

The 6’0, 206-pound safety doesn’t have the most encouraging 2023 tape, but he played a wide variety of roles from single-high to two-high to in the box. He’s at his best coming downhill to make tackles.

Johnson signed with the Steelers in early June, and suddenly has a golden opportunity to make the final roster in Pittsburgh.

Just 25 years old, he still has room to grow, but he’s also had time to improve since his last in-game NFL action. The bottom of the Steelers’ safety depth chart is wide open, making Johnson a name to watch this offseason.

What are your thoughts on these “forgotten” Steelers? Any names you’d add to the list? Join the BTSC community and let us know in the comments!