Author: kate.magdziuk

Pittsburgh’s star is in the mix for another DPOY

Pittsburgh Steelers star edge rusher T.J. Watt is officially back in the mix for some extra hardware to close out the season, announced as a finalist for 2024 AP Defensive Player of the Year on Thursday. It marks the fourth time Watt has been named a finalist for the award over the past five seasons, with his only win coming in the 2021 NFL season.

Among the other finalists for DPOY were Philadelphia Eagles LB Zack Baun, Cleveland Browns DE Myles Garrett, Cincinnati Bengals DE Trey Hendrickson and Denver Broncos CB Pat Surtain II. Baun, Hendrickson and Surtain are each seeking their first DPOY award, while Garrett and Watt are seeking their second.

Fans may consider Watt’s nomination somewhat surprising given what was a relatively disappointing 2024 campaign. After starting the year hot with 4.5 sacks, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and six tackles for a loss over the first five weeks, Watt failed to register a single stat over his final two games of the season — no sacks, no tackles, no QB hits.

His 11.5 sacks in 2024 marked the fewest he’d had in a season where he’d played 15+ games saying back to his rookie season in 2017. He did, however, lead the NFL in forced fumbles (6) while tallying 19 TFL, 27 QB hits and 61 combined tackles.

The winner of Defensive Player of the Year (and the rest of the AP Award winners for 2024) will be announced at the NFL Honors ceremony on Thursday, February 6, hosted at the Saenger Theater in New Orleans, Louisiana. It will be televised live at 9 p.m. ET on Fox and NFL Network, as well as available for live stream using NFL+.

Do you think Watt deserves to win 2024 DPOY?

Pittsburgh holds the 21st pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper released his first 2025 NFL mock draft of the year on Wednesday, offering first-round projections for all 32 teams — including the Pittsburgh Steelers, who locked in the 21st overall pick coming out of the Wild Card Round.

Kiper, like many others in the mock-draft-sphere, projects Pittsburgh to opt for a wide receiver in Round 1, projecting the Steelers to draft Ohio State wideout Emeka Egbuka with the 21st overall pick.

Egbuka was the fourth wide receiver selected in Kiper’s debut mock — or, perhaps technically third? — behind Colorado WR/CB hybrid Travis Hunter (to the Browns at No. 2), Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan (to the Raiders at No. 6) and Missouri’s Luther Burden III (to the Cowboys at No. 12).

On Egbuka’s fit with the Steelers, Kiper shares:

The last time the Steelers took a receiver in Round 1 was 2006, when they drafted Santonio Holmes at No. 25. But unless things drastically change in free agency, Pittsburgh has to break that streak. There aren’t enough reliable pass catchers in this offense. The Steelers don’t have a surefire WR2 behind George Pickens, and the offense isn’t going to improve until they do something there, no matter the QB.

Egbuka caught six passes for 64 yards in Monday’s national championship win, putting him over 1,000 yards on the season (1,011). It was also the second time in the past three years that Egbuka caught double-digit touchdowns (10). He’s a great route runner with speed and would eat up targets in the Steelers’ offense.

Per NFL Mock Draft Database, a website that analyzes NFL mock drafts from around the sports media landscape, Egbuka has emerged as the consensus pick for the Steelers at No. 21 among the 594 mock drafts analyzed at the time of this writing.

Egbuka, a former five-star recruit (and top WR recruit in the 2021 class per 247Sports) played all four seasons at Ohio State, including two seasons of 1,000+ receiving yards and 10+ scrimmage touchdowns. He’s the Buckeyes’ all-time reception leader (205) and second all-time receiving-yard leader (2,868), just behind Michael Jenkins. Meanwhile, his 24 receiving touchdowns rank seventh all-time for the historic university — just one shy short of Santonio Holmes, the last Ohio State wideout the Steelers drafted, who also happened to be selected in the first round.

Listed at 6-foot-1 and 205 pounds, the 22-year-old wideout offers plenty of fluidity as a route runner and offers something the Steelers’ offense could sorely use in the passing game — reliability. His skill set over the middle of the field, having played primarily out of the slot at Ohio State (73.2% of snaps per PFF), would be a huge asset for the Steelers and a great complement to the splash plays George Pickens offers along the perimeter.

Interestingly, Egbuka’s NFL comp coming out of high school was listed as former Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster.

Needless to say, the Steelers’ history of first-round picks out of Ohio State in the 2000s has been stellar, including the selections of Holmes (2006), DT Cam Heyward (2011) and LB Ryan Shazier (2014). Could Egbuka be the next home run?