Winners and Losers from First Week of Steelers Training Camp

Steelers Analysis•Steelers Training Camp

Saunders: Winners and Losers from the First Week of Steelers Training Camp

UNITY TWP., Pa. — The first week of Pittsburgh Steelers training camp is in the books, so let’s talk about some of the winners and losers from the first four practices at St. Vincent College.

WINNER — DK Metcalf

With all of the talk this offseason about the Steelers’ addition of new weapons in the passage game, that might have meant a reduced role for DK Metcalf, compared to the way he dominated the team’s passing touches last year.

That hasn’t happened, with Aaron Rodgers targeting Metcalf over and over and over again, and the fact that the defense has more to deal with than just No. 4 has seemed to help him get open as opposed to diluting his target share.

LOSER — Eli Heidenreich

There’s nothing that Eli Heidenreich did or didn’t do when his number was called this week to put him on the losers section of this list. It’s the fact that he wasn’t very frequently called upon during a week where the practice cadence should have been right up his alley.

The Steelers basically did nothing but throw the ball all week, and Heidenreich, who played slot receiver at Navy but is moving to running back in the NFL, was barely called up, working as the No. 5 or 6 running back through the team’s rotation. On Saturday, former undrafted free agent Lew Nichols worked with the first team while Heidenreich worked with the second team, which is not a good sign for his 53-man roster chances.

It will probably not get easier for Heidenreich when the pads go on and he’s forced to compete in the areas of his game where he has even less experience.

WINNER — Roman Wilson

There probably isn’t a player on the Steelers’ roster who needed to have a big camp more than Roman Wilson, who missed all of his rookie season with injuries and failed to capitalize on opportunities in 2025. Now, with the team adding Michael Pittman Jr. and Germie Bernard to the wide receivers room, Wilson was going to have to step up to maintain a role in the offense, and even entered camp in danger of not making the team.

It’s only been one week, but it feels easy to put those fears aside for now. Wilson has been excellent, looking much more connected to Rodgers and has held off Bernard for the No. 3 spot thus far. He may not keep it all the way through the season, but Wilson certainly looks like a viable backup wide receiver at the worst, and you couldn’t necessarily say that about his play last season.

LOSER — Riley Nowakowski

With the Steelers doing a lot of 2-minute work, and nearly exclusively passing, there obviously wasn’t going to be a lot of work for the squad’s fullback. But Riley Nowakowski was more than that in college, primarily playing tight end at Indiana.

But he did not get many reps at all at tight end this week, with Robert Tonyan dominating the TE3 playing time, and even Jaheim Bell and UDFA Lake McRee getting more run with the top units at tight end than Nowakowski did.

WINNER — Germie Bernard

The adjustment to the NFL is usually tough for rookies — there are a bunch of them in the losers column of this list — but Bernard has made it look easy. He has NFL size and strength. He’s extremely mature. He has great hands.

It’s hard to believe that Bernard won’t eventually pass Wilson on the depth chart, and that’s not because Wilson has done anything wrong, it’s just because if this is the floor for Bernard is a rookie, then look out, because he’s going places.

LOSER — Gennings Dunker

Gennings Dunker spent all of OTAs and minicamp with the third-team offensive line, and he’s been back there to start training camp. Even though no pads have been donned to this point, it’s a steep climb from where Dunker currently resides on the depth chart to a potential starting role, which seemed possible when he was drafted in the third round.

WINNER — Kaleb Johnson

The first week of Steelers training camp featured no pads, and an offense that almost exclusively worked in passing scenarios. It wasn’t until Saturday’s practice four that a running back took a carry. Those are not the kinds of scenarios that Kaleb Johnson has thrived in, either at Iowa or as a rookie last season.

But he’s shown significant growth in those areas of opportunity heading into 2026. Johnson looked much more fluid in his route-running coming out of the backfield, and he didn’t have any of the drops that showed up this time last year.

He’s taken nearly every RB3 rep, and also has earned a special teams role on punt coverage, making what looked like a shaky spot on the 53-man roster much more secure.

LOSER — Laith Marjan

Unseating Chris Boswell was a nearly impossible task at any rate, but undrafted rookie Laith Marjan made things much more difficult by missing a pair of kicks in his first real chance to show what he could do on Saturday.

WINNER — Spencer Anderson

Spencer Anderson is the only player that took a snap with the first team at right guard this week, which should tell you a lot about the state of the competition at that position. Nothing is really set in stone until the pads go on, but it should be clear as day that starting guard job is Anderson’s to lose at this point.

LOSER — Esezi Otomewo

When it comes to the Steelers’ depth defensive linemen, Esezi Otomewo was a big surprise as one of the best last season, coming out of nowhere to earn significant playing time.

That has not carried over with the new coaching staff, as he’s been buried deep on the defensive tackle depth chart so far. Patrick Graham spent some time nitpicking Otomewo’s drill work this week, and it’s clear he’s not going to be able to rest on his stronger-than-expected 2025 season.

WINNER — Carson Bruener

Carson Bruener had a very strong rookie season on special teams, but didn’t do much on defense. For a seventh-round pick, that’s a perfectly fine introduction to the NFL.

With a new coaching staff coming in, though, that’s not exactly a long resume to go on, and so Bruener was going to need to prove himself again in training camp this year.

Not only has he again been placed in a special teams role, Bruener has been the team’s fourth linebacker through practices most days, and has shown improved coverage instincts in his second time through an NFL camp.

LOSER — Malik Harrison

The pass-heavy nature of the week did not play into Malik Harrison’s skillset from the start, but I still didn’t expect him to be yielding significant reps to Bruener.

Harrison didn’t have a great first season in Pittsburgh in 2025, and he’s carrying around a $4.75 million salary this year, so his roster spot entered as precarious, and now looks even much more so.

Harrison won’t truly be judged until the pads go on, but it’s safe to say next week is a big week for him.

WINNER — Asante Samuel Jr.

The best player at training camp, by far, this week has been cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. By my count, he has six pass breakups in three practices where such a thing was even possible, even though the 5-foot-10 Samuel has spent most of his time going up against the Steelers’ gigantic No. 1 and 2 receivers, the 6-foot-4 twin towers of Metcalf and Pittman.

Samuel is a backup on the Steelers depth chart, but he’s been so good that Graham is going to have to find a role for him this season.

WINNER — Brandin Echols

Another winner from the absence of Joey Porter Jr. and Jalen Ramsey from the Steelers’ practices has been Brandin Echols, who has drawn the starting Nickel role, which I would assume would make him the Dime cornerback when Ramsey returns. Echols had a nice pass breakup in a matchup against Metcalf on Saturday and has held his own in man coverage all week.

LOSER — Robert Spears-Jennings

Sometimes, more reps than expected are not a good thing. With DeShon Elliott limited in his return from a hamstring injury and veteran Darnell Savage also not taking team reps on Saturday for unknown reasons, seventh-round rookie Robert Spears-Jennings has been thrust into a larger-than-expected role.

That hasn’t necessarily gone well. He got smoked by Max Hurleman for a touchdown on the first day, and has yet to make a play on the football. The Steelers brought in three veteran safeties for tryouts, signing one in a clear indication they don’t trust their safety depth at this point.

WINNER — The training staff

While Mike McCarthy‘s lower-intensity practices may have something to do with it, the Steelers escaped the first week of training camp without a single obvious injury or heat-related ailment. Considering the issues they’ve had with soft-tissue injuries in the recent past, that’s a huge improvement.

LOSERS — Adults seeking autographs

Two men — I use that term loosely — got into a scuffle near the fence at St. Vincent College on Saturday, and it was only the quick thinking of tight end Pat Freiermuth that prevented a child from getting injured. Leave the autographs to the kids, and the semi-professional autograph seekers that arrive at camp with backpacks full of memorabilia that they obvious intend to do nothing other than sell to the highest bidder should be banned.

The point of having the team so accessible to the fans at training camp is to give people a moment to meet their idols, not enrich some rando with a backpack full of 8 x 10s. Leave the autographs to the kids, and if you really want to meet your favorite player, shake their hand and ask to take a picture — they’d rather do that anyway.

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