The Pittsburgh Steelers opened training camp at Saint Vincent College on Tuesday coming off a division title, a 10-6 season and a full-scale offseason renovation. Fox Sports still has them 24th in the NFL.
Fox Sports NFL reporter Ralph Vacchiano published his training camp power rankings Tuesday morning, nudging Pittsburgh up one spot to No. 24 with +5000 odds to win Super Bowl LXI. That is a strikingly low number for a team that won the AFC North nine months ago.
The distance between what the Steelers did last season and where they sit now comes down to a single position. Vacchiano said as much himself.
He listed the quarterback’s age, a backloaded schedule and a division with two teams he considers legitimate contenders. Then came the line that actually stings.
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After acknowledging Pittsburgh is chasing one more glorious ride with Aaron Rodgers, Vacchiano wrote that the Steelers “should have started rebuilding around a young QB this year.”
The competition within the division does the Steelers no favor either. Baltimore checks in third. Cincinnati is 10th. Cleveland, still sorting out a Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders competition, sits 28th.
Which means the defending division champion is being projected to finish third in its own division. Not because the roster got worse. Michael Pittman Jr., Rico Dowdle, Jamel Dean and first-round tackle Max Iheanachor all arrived this offseason, among others. Mike Tomlin walked away after 19 years and Mike McCarthy was hired in January to fix an offense that has been broken since 2021.
The roster is better. The answer at quarterback just expires in January with no clear answer afterwards.
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This is what makes No. 24 more interesting than insulting.
Since Roethlisberger retired following the 2021 season, Pittsburgh has opened seasons with Mitch Trubisky, Kenny Pickett, Justin Fields and Rodgers. Pickett was a first-round pick who lasted two years before requesting out and landing in Philadelphia. Russell Wilson and Fields were one-year stopgaps. Rodgers is a one-year stopgap with a gold jacket waiting for him.
The 2026 season marks the first time in five years the Steelers return the same Week 1 starter. He is 42, and he is leaving.
ESPN’s Brooke Pryor reported from Latrobe on Tuesday that Rodgers ruled out 2027 completely, saying there is “zero debate” about this being the end. DK Metcalf, his camp roommate, told reporters hours earlier he is not buying it.
Behind Rodgers sit Drew Allar, taken 76th overall in April, and Will Howard, a 2025 sixth-rounder who lost most of his rookie season to injury. McCarthy has already put both through his quarterback school. Neither has thrown a regular-season NFL pass.
That is the entire case. Pittsburgh has not won a playoff game since 2016, has not drafted a franchise quarterback since 2004, and just spent another offseason handing the keys to a veteran on his way out the door. The Steelers open Sept. 13 at home against Atlanta with a schedule that gets meaner as it goes.
No. 24 is not a shot at this roster. It is what a team looks like after five straight years of renting the most important position in sports.
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