The Pittsburgh Steelers went into their preseason meeting with the Jets hoping to build on the momentum from their opener. Instead, they came out looking out of sync on both sides of the ball, and the night turned into a rough reset.
Quarterback play was once again the main attraction. Will Howard and Drew Allar got the full game to make their case after a strong debut, but neither one kept the momentum going. Both took a hard step back, and the Steelers’ roster picture only got murkier from there.
If there was a bright spot, it came from the defensive side more often than not.
Jack Sawyer continued to show why he can be trusted as depth at edge rusher. He held up well against the run, picked up a sack, and when he couldn’t get home, he still found a way to make an impact by getting a hand on a pass. For a fourth option on the depth chart, that’s a pretty useful player to have.
Carson Bruener also kept making his presence felt. His special teams value is already clear, and that remains his lane for 2026, but he has also flashed on defense in both preseason games.
In a game with very few standouts, he looked like someone who has moved forward. That won’t suddenly make him a major piece next season, though there may be a path for him in 2027.
Rayshawn Jenkins was the clear headliner. He was already a physical presence in the first preseason game, and he took it up another level against the Jets.
Jenkins brought heat as a blitzer, kept pressure on the quarterback, and gave the defense some juice after a sluggish start. On a night when “meh” covered a lot of the roster, he separated himself and all but cemented his spot.
The return game, meanwhile, gave Kaden Wetjen a much different kind of night. After landing on the winners list last week because of what he did on offense, he ended up on the wrong side this time because of his work as a returner - the very reason he was drafted.
Early on, he had a chance on a deep punt, but he drifted too far laterally and took a hard hit that jarred the ball loose. The Jets player trying to recover it couldn’t keep both feet in bounds, which spared the Steelers from a bigger mess, but it was still an ugly moment for the fourth-round rookie.
The offensive line didn’t help itself either. From the starters to the backups, the group that the Steelers have invested so heavily in looked shaky across the board.
Nobody really stood out in a good way, and several players hurt their cases. Broderick Jones allowed a sack and slipped back into the kind of performance the Steelers were hoping to leave behind.
Dylan Cook has been underwhelming so far as well, and the interior remains unsettled. Even the reserves didn’t offer much encouragement.
Howard’s stock took the biggest hit of all. The Steelers gave him every chance to make a push for the top backup job, and he didn’t deliver.
He had a few decent moments, but two bad interceptions wrecked his night. Mason Rudolph, who had been floating around the roster bubble, now looks close to a lock without even stepping on the field.
That raises the obvious question: do the Steelers keep four quarterbacks just to hold onto Howard?
That same quarterback wobble, along with a few other uneven performances, may have also erased whatever trade appeal Pittsburgh had heading toward cutdown day. The Steelers don’t have a ton of high-end talent available to move, but a few names at least seemed possible.
Rudolph had been the subject of rumors about a possible move, but Howard’s struggles now make Rudolph look like a sure thing to stay. Broderick Jones, after another rough outing, doesn’t look like a starter anyone would chase.
And Kaleb Johnson got plenty of snaps, but he didn’t do enough to pop as a trade candidate. Right now, it doesn’t look like Pittsburgh will be able to turn any of those players into a deal before roster cutdown day.
In Other News...
Drew Allar Just Revealed What Still Must Change In Pittsburgh
A rougher preseason outing gave Drew Allar and the Steelers a more useful kind of tape to study than another polished stat line would have. After following up his stronger showing with an 11-for-23 effort for 110 yards in Week 2, the rookie quarterback said he saw places where he could have been cleaner, especially by taking the easier completions earlier in drives and helping the offense settle in sooner.
For Pittsburgh, that kind of self-assessment matters as much as the box score right now. The receiving group had its share of drops, the overall performance never really found a rhythm, and Allar is still in the middle of his development, but the encouraging part is that he looked like a young quarterback learning from a difficult night instead of shrinking from it. [Read more 🡒]
Steelers Rookie Returner Suddenly Has Everything Riding On One Game
Kaden Wetjens first two preseason games have already put him in the kind of spot every rookie is trying to avoid in late August. The Steelers fourth-round returner flashed some juice in his debut, showing real activity as both a receiver and on special teams, but his follow-up was far quieter and ended with a lost fumble, the sort of mistake that can quickly change the tone of a roster battle.
Now Wetjen has one last chance to make his case before final cuts, and the margin for error is shrinking fast. Insider Mark Kaboly has already described him as on the bubble for Pittsburghs 53-man roster, which leaves the rookie in a simple but unforgiving place: one more strong performance could help him stick, while another uneven outing would make the decision even tougher for the Steelers staff. [Read more 🡒]
Steelers May Be Running Out Of Patience With Broderick Jones
Broderick Jones was supposed to be part of the Steelers long-term answer on the offensive line when Pittsburgh took him in the first round in 2023, but his path since then has been anything but smooth. Injuries, including a neck issue, and repeated position changes have complicated his development, and even with preseason reps, he has not locked down the kind of steady role the team hoped he would grow into.
The bigger question now is less about his draft status than his fit in Pittsburghs plans. Jones has 38 NFL starts on his rsum, but the Steelers still have reason to wonder whether he can be counted on as a reliable tackle, which is why they are weighing every possible outcome, from keeping him as depth to moving on entirely or seeing whether the trade market offers a better answer. [Read more 🡒]