Steelers' Defender Quickly Finds Himself In Hot Water After Shaky Start To 2025

The Pittsburgh Steelers have begun the 2025 season with a 2-1 record, but the team could easily be 0-3. The offense has been shaky at times, and the defense has underperformed (aside from some opportunistic plays during the Week 3 win over the New England Patriots). The defense as a whole has not looked good and the group has failed to put a complete game together. That side of the ball has been fairly beat up since the start of the season as well, especially in the secondary, which has been one of the bigger issues for Pittsburgh so far in 2025.

Pittsburgh's secondary was said to be improved and revamped going into the 2025 season, but injuries quickly took a toll on the group. Both DeShon Elliott and Joey Porter Jr. left Pittsburgh's Week 1 matchup against the New York Jets early and have not played since, which has hurt communication on the backend. This has forced Juan Thornhill to play a bigger role at free safety, where he was initially supposed to be splitting time with Jalen Ramsey. Porter's absence at cornerback has forced Ramsey to play more on the outside vs nickel, which has left Thornhill at free safety. 

Team insider Brian Batko believes Thornhill has played his way out of favor with Pittsburgh after just three weeks, which he wrote on Thursday in a mailbag for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

"But it does seem like Juan Thornhill already has fallen out of favor to some degree," Batko wrote. "I don’t know if it was the miscommunication against the Seahawks on the Tory Horton touchdown that had Teryl Austin cussing up a storm days later, or a multitude of factors."

Batko referenced Pittsburgh's Week 2 matchup with the Seattle Seahawks where Pittsburgh's secondary got burned on a Yankee Concept for the second week in a row. This allowed Tory Horton to score an easy touchdown, and there seemed to be serious miscommunication in the secondary on the play. Batko speculates this could have been Thornhill's fault, which would certainly play into him falling out of favor with the coaching staff.

There is some evidence to support the idea that Thornhill is in the doghouse. He played roughly 84 percent of the defensive snaps in Week 1, and he was on the field 100 percent of the time on defense in Week 2. In Week 3 against New England, he only played 39 percent of the snaps, which shows a significant drop off in his workload. 

With Elliott hurt, Chuck Clark has seen a significant role in the secondary, and Jabrill Peppers was worked into the defensive lineup for the first time in Week 3 after being signed two weeks prior. Peppers and Clark seem more likely to be on the field moving forward, and that is especially true once Elliott returns to the starting lineup -- which could happen in Week 4 against the Minnesota Vikings.

Steelers' Juan Thornhill Still Provides Good Depth

Barring no more injuries at the safety position, it is hard to see how Thornhill will find his way back onto the field consistently. If Elliott returns in Week 4, he will be starting, and it seems that Peppers or Clark will be on the field rather than Thornhill. In addition to that, if Porter is able to return, then Ramsey may also be getting worked back in at free safety. Thornhill may have played his way out of a job in Pittsburgh, at least for the time being.

The veteran safety still provides decent depth in the room however, but fans may be waiting awhile till they seem him back in a meaningful role on the defense. Week 4 should reveal more as far as what the Steelers might be thinking regarding their safety rotation moving forward.

What do you think about Thornhill's performance so far during the 2025 season? Let us know in the comments below!

#SteelerNation