Steelers Preseason 6 Players 2026 Week 1

Six Steelers Who Changed the Conversation After One Preseason Game

by
NFL

The preseason opener was never going to answer every question. It was never supposed to. What it did do was separate the players who just took snaps from the players who changed the tone of the conversation.

That matters in August, especially for a roster with real competition at cornerback, linebacker, wide receiver, and tight end. The Steelers’ 28–9 win over Green Bay gave Pittsburgh a first live look at several players who are trying to force their way into the plan, not just the final roster. The value of a preseason game is not the scoreboard. It is the evidence. Here are six Steelers who produced evidence.

Jamin Davis

Jamin Davis was the closest thing the Steelers had to a one-man argument for defensive depth. He finished with eight tackles, two sacks, three quarterback hits, and a tackle for loss, but the raw production only tells part of the story. The more important detail is that he made those plays from different alignments and in different roles. That is the sign of a defender who is being used as more than a placeholder at linebacker.

This is the part that matters for Pittsburgh’s front seven: Davis did not look like a guy collecting stats because the game script gave him free runs at backups. He looked like a player who can create disruption in a system that wants linebackers to do more than just stay clean and read downhill. If the Steelers are going to survive the regular season with a rotation-heavy front, they need a player who can rush from the second level, collapse the pocket, and still be part of the run-fit conversation.

That is Davis’ path. Not just “linebacker,” and not just “blitzer,” but a situational weapon who can force protection decisions. What game two needs to show is consistency. The pass-rush splash was obvious. The next test is whether he can keep the same edge when the offense starts trying to run at him, slow him down with chip help, or force him to play more stack-and-shed football. If he answers that, the Steelers have found a real front-seven piece rather than a preseason storyline.

Asante Samuel Jr.

Asante Samuel Jr. played like the most important healthy corner on the roster, because right now that is exactly what he is. With Joey Porter Jr. on PUP, Jalen Ramsey on PUP, Donte Kent still recovering from his ACL, and Brandin Echols dealing with an ankle issue, Samuel is not depth in the abstract. He is the first real answer. And he backed that up against Green Bay’s starting offense.

The goal-line pass breakup against Jayden Reed mattered because it came in a real stress moment. That is where corner play gets evaluated honestly. Not in a clean drill, not against a receiver running air, but at the goal line when the quarterback knows exactly where he wants to go and the coverage has to survive a condensed field. Samuel held his leverage, stayed connected, and got his hands to the ball. Technique is the reason this play matters. Samuel has always been a corner who wins with timing, route recognition, and efficient movement rather than brute force. He is not built to live off panic or physical overmatch. He is built to stay in phase and attack the throw point. That is why the goal-line PBU says something useful about his Week 1 value.

Game two needs to show that the performance was not just a clean moment against a starter. It needs to show that he can repeat the same discipline when offenses start moving him around, forcing him into off coverage, and testing whether he can tackle in space without giving up easy yards after catch. If he keeps playing like this, the Steelers do not just have a stopgap. They have a legitimate veteran presence who can step in during the regular season, if necessary. 

Kaden Wetjen

Kaden Wetjen changed the conversation the way return guys and gadget players are supposed to change it: by forcing the staff to imagine more than one role. The 74-yard catch-and-run was not pure individual creation, because Green Bay busted the coverage. Everyone watching knows that. But the important part is what Wetjen did after the catch. He did not drift. He accelerated through the open field and turned a busted coverage into a real problem for the defense. That is the useful skill.

Why does that matter in McCarthy’s offense? Because a timing-based system that leans on short and intermediate throws needs receivers who can turn structure into chunk plays after the ball arrives. The offense does not need every explosive play to come from a deep shot. It needs players who can take a quick throw, a return route, a screen, or a motion touch and make the defense pay for missing once.

That gives Wetjen a path beyond special teams. He can be a return specialist, yes, but he can also be a jet-sweep stress point, a screen target, or a quick-game receiver who turns five yards into fifteen. That is how young players earn offensive snaps in a system like this. They do not need to be complete wideouts on day one. They need one real trait that the coaching staff can build around. What game two needs to show is whether the big play was a flash or the start of a usage plan. If Wetjen can do that again on a designed touch, not just a busted coverage, then Pittsburgh has an actual role player, not just a preseason highlight.

Daylen Everette

Daylen Everette did not have the kind of night that creates a viral clip. He had the kind of night that matters more to coaches. Because as stated before, the Steelers secondary is so battered by injuries, the rookie corner got real snaps against NFL speed. That is the whole point of his evaluation. Not whether he intercepted a ball in August. Whether he could function in contact, stay assignment-sound, and survive the edge of the game without unraveling.

What stood out was the physicality. Everette tackled like a player who understood that cornerback value in Pittsburgh is not just coverage; it is force support, boundary violence, and the ability to prevent five-yard completions from becoming ten-yard gains. That sounds basic, but it is exactly what makes a rookie corner playable early.  The technique questions are still the real ones. Can he stay in phase without grabbing and communicate properly when motion changes the coverage picture? Can he play with leverage instead of panic when a receiver stems inside and then breaks out? 

Preseason corners are often judged too much by the ball production and not enough by the stuff that keeps a defense from bleeding out between the hash marks. Everette’s game-two audition should focus on those details. Does he tackle again and avoid panic penalties? If he does, the Steelers may have more corner depth than the injury report suggested. If he doesn’t, then the current reps are just survival reps, not developmental progress.

Germie Bernard

Germie Bernard is the kind of rookie receiver who can earn a real role without ever becoming a headline player. That is not a knock. That is how a lot of useful NFL receivers are built. Bernard’s 25-yard catch mattered because it showed how he can contribute this year: as a dependable underneath target who can win after the catch and keep the offense on schedule. 

The chemistry with Mason Rudolph matters here. A veteran quarterback who knows where the ball is supposed to go can help a rookie receiver become functional faster. Bernard looked like a receiver Rudolph trusted enough to feed in rhythm, and that trust is what matters in a timing-based offense. A critical factor if you want to play with Aaron Rodgers. 

The YAC after the missed tackle by Keisean Nixon is not just a splash-play detail. It points to the role Bernard can fill in this offense. He does not need to be a field-stretcher to matter. He needs to run the underneath routes cleanly, attack the catch point, and turn routine completions into manageable chunk gains. That is very valuable in McCarthy’s structure, because the offense is built to make the defense choose wrong and then punish the choice with the next layer.

The reliable route width, strong hands, and the ability to make the first tackler miss or pay. That gets him on the field. What game two needs to show is whether he can do it again against a defense that is expecting him. A one-off catch is nice. Repeated wins underneath, with Rudolph or another quarterback, would tell Pittsburgh that Bernard is more than a camp name.

Robert Tonyan

Robert Tonyan fits this offense because this offense actually needs a tight end to do multiple jobs. That sounds obvious, but Pittsburgh has not always played like it understood it. In a McCarthy system that leans on 12 personnel, the tight end cannot just be a large receiver or a faux blocker. He has to help sell the outside-zone run, release cleanly into the play-action game, and give the quarterback a viable intermediate outlet when the defense takes away the perimeter.

Tonyan did that against his old team. The three straight 15-plus-yard catches on the first touchdown drive told the story. He was not just floating into space. He was functioning as the kind of intermediate target that keeps the offense alive when the defense wants to squeeze the boundary and sit on shallow routes. That is exactly the sort of usage this system needs from a tight end who is not the feature star.

The run-blocking part matters too. If Tonyan cannot help sell the outside-zone action, the whole thing gets thinner. A tight end in this offense has to threaten the defense as a blocker first enough that the play-action looks credible. Only then do the seam, cross, and sit routes matter the way they are supposed to. Tonyan’s game-two checklist is simple: block with enough reliability to stay on the field, keep releasing cleanly off play-action, and remain a trustworthy option for the quarterbacks who need an intermediate safety valve. If he does that, he is not a veteran body. He is a functional piece.

More to See

The Steelers’ preseason opener mattered because it did something more useful than give fans a scoreline. It forced the roster battle into the light. Jamin Davis showed pass-rush juice. Asante Samuel Jr. looked like a starter in waiting. Kaden Wetjen made himself impossible to ignore. Daylen Everette held up like a rookie corner who understands contact. Germie Bernard gave Pittsburgh a real reason to think about him as a functional part of the passing game this season. Robert Tonyan looked like the kind of tight end McCarthy’s offense actually needs. That is how August should work.

Facebook
X
LinkedIn
Reddit

Leave A Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *