{"id":228906,"date":"2026-06-26T16:23:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T16:23:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/228906\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T16:23:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T16:23:19","slug":"two-steelers-make-cbs-sports-top-100-nfl-players-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/228906\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Steelers Make CBS Sports’ Top-100 NFL Players List"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steelers News<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"PittsburghPittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Cam Heyward during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Oct. 16, 2025. — Ed Thompson \/ Steelers Now\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Two Pittsburgh Steelers made Pete Prisco of CBS Sports\u2019<\/a> annual Top-100 Players list. To no surprise, longtime defensive tackle Cam Heyward<\/a> and outside linebacker T.J. Watt<\/a> made the list. They\u2019ve both been perennial All-Pro and Pro Bowl players.<\/p>\n

Watt took a big dip in the rankings, however, after a down campaign in 2025. He went from 11th on the top-100 list to No. 88.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis production has dipped since he recorded 19 sacks in 2023,\u201d Prisco wrote. \u201cHe had just 7 last season as he battled injuries, limiting him to 14 games.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watt revealed at OTAs that he\u2019ll move around more in Patrick Graham\u2019s defense. Watt typically only lined up at the left outside linebacker position. Perhaps the change will get Watt back on track. <\/p>\n

The All-Pro outside linebacker also suffered a partially collapsed lung in December last season after a needle inadvertently punctured his lung during a dry needling session at the team facility. Watt missed three games because of the freak accident. <\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of us are interchangeable partners,\u201d Watt said. \u201cYou\u2019re not just learning your position. You kind of have to learn the whole defensive front structure because we all are basically interchangeable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watt admitted he was hard-headed when it came to moving around the defense.<\/p>\n

\u201dI think in the past, it was a little bit more about me being stubborn<\/a>,\u201d Watt said. \u201cI think this new system allows [more of that, because] a lot of it is built in, so I really can\u2019t say no. I have to move with it. A lot of us are interchangeable parts. You\u2019re not just learning your position, you kind of have to learn the whole defensive front structure because we all are basically interchangeable. We can do different things, so I think you\u2019re going to see a lot more movement of not just me, but the whole front.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SteelersPittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt during a game against the New England Patriots on Sept. 21, 2025. \u2014 Ed Thompson \/ Steelers Now<\/p>\n

Heyward came in at No. 39 on Prisco\u2019s top-100 list, dropping two spots from last year. The 37-year-old is heading into his 16th NFL season, but he\u2019s shown no signs of slowing down.<\/p>\n

\u201cAge isn\u2019t slowing down this 37-year-old interior defender,\u201d Prisco wrote. \u201cHe had one of his best seasons in 2025. He is a force against the run and as a pass rusher.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heyward needs no endorsement at this point of his career. However, anything to build upon his resume for the Pro Football Hall of Fame will help, and one current member sees a Gold Jacket in Heyward\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

Hall of Fame wide receiver Cris Carter believes Heyward is cut from the same cloth as Steelers legendary defensive tackle Mean Joe Greene.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s still playing at an All-Pro level,\u201d Carter said on his Fully Loaded Podcast<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s vitally important in the community, he\u2019s vitally important in the locker room, he\u2019s vitally important in the front office, he\u2019s vitally important as far as the Steelers and their legacy. He\u2019s not mean Joe Greene, but he is the next best thing to Mean Joe Greene, and playing for the Steelers.\u201d<\/p>\n

One thing is missing from Heyward\u2019s resume, however, and that\u2019s a Super Bowl ring. Heyward has been a part of just three playoff wins in his 15 years with the Steelers. He was active for just one playoff win, as he was injured in 2016.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMentioned In This Article: Cam Heyward<\/a> Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> Steelers<\/a> Steelers News<\/a> T.J. Watt<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Steelers News Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Cam Heyward during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Oct. 16,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":228907,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[22432,73,75,74,1833,1829,22891,3284],"class_list":["post-228906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-cam-heyward","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-steelers","tag-steelers-news","tag-t-j-watt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228906\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}