The Steelers went into the 2025 offseason looking to improve their physicality and depth after they wore down at the end of the 2024 season.

With the 2025 NFL Draft concluding Saturday, that process is now largely complete.

The Steelers added seven players in the seven-round draft they feel will help in terms of the physical nature of their play.

In the first round on Thursday night, they selected Oregon defensive tackle Derrick Harmon. They didn’t have a second-round pick, having sent that to the Seattle Seahawks as part of the package they used to acquire 6-foot-4, 235-pound wide receiver DK Metcalf. But in the third round Friday night, they selected Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson, a 6-foot-1, 224-pound running back.

Saturday, they finished off their draft by taking Ohio State’s 6-foot-4, 260-pound outside linebacker Jack Sawyer in the fourth round. In the fifth round, they added massive Iowa defensive tackle Yahya Black (6-6, 336 pounds), before taking Ohio State quarterback Will Howard (6-4, 236) in the sixth round after making a trade to move back with Kansas City and acquire a second seventh-round pick.

Sawyer and Howard were both key members of Ohio State’s national championship team in 2024.

With the additional seventh-round pick they acquired from Kansas City, they selected linebacker Carson Bruener of Washington, the son of longtime Steelers tight end and scout Mark Bruener, then used their final pick in the draft to take Central Michigan cornerback Donte Kent.

“It goes beyond the defensive front,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. “We wanted to retool physicality in all areas, and included in that discussion is the use of the second-round pick to acquire DK Metcalf. Although he’s a receiver, I think he fits the bill in terms of physicality and size, and so that definitely was an agenda of ours this weekend.”