{"id":256165,"date":"2026-07-31T07:57:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T07:57:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/256165\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T07:57:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T07:57:15","slug":"steel-curtain-is-back-espn-analyst-bullish-on-pittsburghs-defense-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/256165\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Steel Curtain Is Back’: ESPN Analyst Bullish On Pittsburgh’s Defense In 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

The hype surrounding the Pittsburgh Steelers\u2019 defense last season was seemingly at an all-time high. Pittsburgh invested heavily in that side of the football, signing veteran cornerback Darius Slay, trading for All-Pro defensive back Jalen Ramsey, and drafting defensive lineman Derrick Harmon in the first round.<\/p>\n

Former Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin stated in training camp last summer that Pittsburgh\u2019s defense could do \u201chistoric\u201d things. Former safety Juan Thornhill said it could be the best defense of all time.<\/a><\/p>\n

Then, the Steelers fell flat on that side of the football.<\/p>\n

Things have changed this offseason with Tomlin resigning, former defensive coordinator Teryl Austin out the door, and new faces in like defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, cornerback Jamel Dean, safety Jaquan Brisker, and more. There\u2019s a fresh outlook on that side of the ball<\/a>, one that has many excited for what\u2019s to come.<\/p>\n

That includes former NFL quarterback and current ESPN analyst Jordan Rodgers, Aaron Rodgers\u2019 younger brother.<\/p>\n

Appearing on Get Up Thursday morning, Rodgers made a bold proclamation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Steel Curtain is back, baby,\u201d Rodgers said, according to video via ESPN.<\/a> \u201cYes, I know. They\u2019re the highest-paid defense in the NFL. They sure didn\u2019t look like it last year. They were 17th in points per game, 29th in pass yards per game. T.J. Watt, finally, he\u2019s moving around.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou got Nick Herbig and Alex Highsmith as well that are all gonna be on the field at some point at the same time in this new defense under Patrick Graham. I like what I see so far.\u201d<\/p>\n

After just one day of training camp practices at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, it\u2019s hard to read too much into things, but right away the Steelers were moving T.J. Watt around the defensive formation. They even showed some three-OLB looks with Watt, Herbig and Highsmith all on the field together, giving offenses something to worry about moving forward.<\/p>\n

Depth looks good across the board, too, as the Steelers GM Omar Khan did a nice job adding it, particularly at cornerback. That depth is already being tested with Joey Porter Jr. on the Active\/PUP list after something flared up in his back during the conditioning test Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Asante Samuel Jr. had a strong first day of practice<\/a>, breaking up multiple passes, while rookie Daylen Everette had a nice day, too.<\/p>\n

If health is on the Steelers\u2019 side this season defensively, the group could make major improvements under Patrick Graham. It all starts with stopping the run better. If the Steelers can do that, the pass rushers should eat, and there are pieces in place in the secondary to help change games.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an exciting time for the Steelers, that much is clear. Just pump the brakes on the Steel Curtain talk, especially after all the hot air blown about the defense this time last year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The hype surrounding the Pittsburgh Steelers\u2019 defense last season was seemingly at an all-time high. Pittsburgh invested heavily…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256166,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[11859,1421,96057,109031,47878,73,75,74,1833,3284],"class_list":["post-256165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-cameron-heyward","tag-espn","tag-get-up","tag-jordan-rodgers","tag-patrick-graham","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-t-j-watt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256165","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=256165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256165\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}