90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Coaching Camp Preview Sequence — Jalen Ramsey, Jonnu Smith, Donald Parham Jr.

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The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2025 offseason practices concluded in the course of June, and subsequent up is the workforce’s annual coaching camp, which will get underway this upcoming week at Saint Vincent School in Latrobe. Forward of that, we are going to preview the workforce’s offseason roster, three gamers at a time. This Steelers roster preview, which incorporates an outlook for each participant, might be achieved alphabetically by final title to make it straightforward to comply with. This sequence figures to exceed 90 gamers because the workforce can carry 91 gamers in the course of the offseason as a result of allowance of 1 worldwide participant designation.

The ultimate three gamers we are going to preview forward of the Steelers’ 2025 coaching camp are: CB Jalen Ramsey, TE Jonnu Smith, and TE Donald Parham Jr.

CB Jalen Ramsey: Chosen by the Jacksonville Jaguars out of Florida State within the first spherical (fifth total) of the 2016 NFL Draft, Ramsey arrived in Pittsburgh by way of a June commerce with the Miami Dolphins that additionally included the Steelers buying TE Jonnu Smith. Ramsey spent his first full three NFL seasons in Jacksonville.

Throughout his fourth NFL season, Ramsey was traded by the Jaguars to the Los Angeles Rams. After enjoying three-and-a-half seasons with the Rams, Ramsey was traded to the Dolphins in March 2023. He performed in 27 regular-season video games for the Dolphins during the last two seasons.

For his NFL profession, Ramsey has performed in 135 regular-season video games with 134 begins. He has registered 24 regular-season interceptions, 108 passes defensed, three sacks, six pressured fumbles, two fumble recoveries, and 534 complete tackles in 9 NFL seasons. Throughout 10 profession playoff video games, Ramsey has registered one interception, seven passes defensed, and 33 complete tackles.

In complete, Ramsey has performed 8,531 regular-season snaps on protection and 462 extra on particular groups. Ramsey additionally arrives in Pittsburgh as a seven-time Professional Bowl choice and three-time first-team All-Professional.

Via the 2024 season, Ramsey has earned $116,871,330 from three completely different NFL groups. He’s set to earn one other $19.5 million from the Steelers in 2025.

Outlook: On the heels of the Steelers buying and selling for Ramsey, anticipate him to play a lot on protection all through the 2025 season. Ramsey is prone to be a beginning exterior cornerback for the Steelers of their base protection, and he’ll doubtless kick inside to the slot when the protection makes use of sub-packages. Ramsey has loads of expertise in terms of enjoying on each side of a protection and within the slot.

Whereas free security definitely isn’t Ramsey’s pure place, the Steelers may use him some in that position in 2025 as a part of rotations and completely different sub-packages. His versatility, consciousness, and playmaking skill ought to enable for him to maneuver round some within the secondary.

Although not thought-about a top-five cornerback within the NFL globally, Ramsey remains to be a defensive again who calls for plenty of consideration from opposing offenses. He’s nonetheless exhausting to focus on within the passing recreation persistently. He has additionally persistently been a terrific run defender since getting into the NFL in 2016.

The primary pink flag from final season in terms of Ramsey is his tackling. He missed a career-high 14 tackles in 2024 with the Dolphins, in accordance with Professional Soccer Focus. The one different actual notable destructive in terms of Ramsey is that he’s by no means registered greater than 4 interceptions in anybody NFL common season.

Ramsey turns 31 in October, so he’s getting up there in age. Even so, he ought to have at the least two good seasons remaining in him. The Steelers have invested much more cash of their protection in 2025, and Ramsey is an enormous a part of that spending. The workforce has rebuilt its secondary this offseason and Ramsey wants to remain wholesome and do his half together with fellow cornerbacks Joey Porter Jr. and Darius Slay, one other veteran offseason addition.

Ought to Ramsey play just like the Steelers assume and hope he’ll in 2025, the veteran cornerback may very properly wind up with one other set of first-team All-Professional and Professional Bowl honors.

TE Jonnu Smith: The Steelers acquired Jonnu Smith, together with Ramsey, by way of a June commerce with the Dolphins that included Pittsburgh S Minkah Fitzpatrick being shipped again to the workforce that drafted him. The potential for the Steelers to accumulate Smith this offseason by way of a commerce was rumored for a number of weeks previous to the deal lastly being made.

Chosen by the Tennessee Titans within the third spherical of the 2017 NFL Draft out of Florida Worldwide, Smith spent his first 4 NFL seasons with the workforce that drafted him. In March 2021, he signed a four-year, $50 million contract with the New England Patriots as an unrestricted free agent. Nonetheless, he solely performed two seasons with the Patriots earlier than being traded to the Atlanta Falcons in March 2023.

After one season with the Falcons, Jonnu Smith was launched, and he shortly signed a two-year contract with the Dolphins. He had a profession season with Miami in 2024, and contract calls for doubtless performed an enormous half in him being traded to the Steelers. The Steelers signed Smith to a one-year extension that included $12.1 million in new cash after they acquired him from the Dolphins.

For his NFL profession, Smith has performed in 124 regular-season video games with 84 begins. He has registered 307 regular-season receptions for 3,307 yards and 28 touchdowns. He’s additionally rushed 19 instances for 126 yards and a landing.

Final season with the Dolphins, Smith caught 88 passes for 884 yards and eight touchdowns on 111 targets. He rushed twice for minus-one yards. In seven profession playoff video games, Jonnu Smith has caught 11 passes for 87 yards and a landing.

Altogether, Smith has performed 4,837 regular-season offensive snaps in eight NFL seasons and 284 extra on particular groups. Final season with the Dolphins, he performed 626 regular-season snaps and only one on particular groups.

Outlook: Jonnu Smith’s arrival in Pittsburgh reunites him with OC Arthur Smith, who was with Tennessee all 4 seasons that the tight finish was there. Arthur Smith was the Titans’ tight ends coach for the primary two seasons when Jonnu Smith arrived in Tennessee earlier than changing into the workforce’s offensive coordinator the ultimate two seasons. The Falcons buying and selling for Jonnu Smith in 2023 was primarily because of Arthur Smith being the workforce’s head coach that season.

Arthur Smith loves utilizing offensive personnel groupings that embody two and three tight ends so Jonnu Smith, together with Pat Freiermuth, figures to see plenty of enjoying time in 2025. Jonnu Smith can play everywhere on offense. That features lining up exterior like a large receiver and within the slot. To a lesser diploma, Freiermuth is equally versatile like Smith.

With veteran QB Aaron Rodgers now with the Steelers, a superb chunk of the workforce’s passing recreation in 2025 is prone to run via Jonnu Smith and Freiermuth. Whereas Smith isn’t prone to have a 2025 season just like the one he had final season with the Dolphins, he nonetheless may end the Steelers’ 17-game slate with at the least 50 catches and 500 yards receiving.

Jonnu Smith’s skill to maneuver round within the offense and reap the benefits of defensive mismatches is what makes him so helpful to the Steelers. He’ll doubtless be used largely as a indifferent tight finish by Arthur Smith in 2025, as he’s not that nice of an in-line blocker within the operating recreation.

Jonnu Smith has averaged 4 explosive performs and three.5 touchdowns a season since getting into the NFL. That ought to about be his expectations in terms of his 2025 season in Pittsburgh.

Earlier than the 2025 common season begins, Smith will flip 30. Even so, he was capable of play in all 17 regular-season video games his final two years with the Dolphins and Falcons. How he performs in 2025 will go a good distance towards deciding if he’ll see his 2026 contract 12 months with the Steelers.

TE Donald Parham Jr.: The Steelers signed Parham to a one-year, veteran profit contract in February. That deal didn’t embody a signing bonus or any assured cash.

Parham entered the NFL in 2019 when the Detroit Lions signed him as an undrafted free agent out of Stetson. After being waived by the Lions previous to their 2019 coaching camp, Parham caught on with the Washington Redskins. After failing to make their 53-man roster as a rookie, Parham spent a brief period of time at first of the 2019 common season on Washington’s apply squad.

In 2020, Parham performed for the Arlington Renegades of the XFL, however that league in the end folded halfway via the season. He landed with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2020 and performed 4 seasons with them via 2023.

After the Chargers launched Parham late within the 2024 offseason, he signed with the Denver Broncos’ apply squad. He remained on that unit many of the common season.

Sadly for Parham, he tore his Achilles throughout one of many Steelers’ OTA practices this offseason and the workforce positioned him on its Reserve/Injured listing.

Outlook: There actually isn’t any outlook to jot down for Parham in terms of the 2025 season due to him touchdown on the Steelers’ Reserve/Injured listing with a torn Achilles. Following surgical procedure, Parham will rehab and that size of time will doubtless take the entire 2025 common season. He is not going to play for the Steelers in 2025.

Parham’s contract included a split-salary clause. Which means, the Steelers should take up a wage cap cost for him within the quantity of $540,000 as soon as the 2025 common season will get underway. Parham is unlikely to be re-signed by the Steelers after his contract expires in March.

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