Steelers TE Was Roster's Biggest Failure

The Pittsburgh Steelers season is now over. The results of the 2025 campaign are basically a copy-and-paste situation from last year, and the year before, and the year before that.

The Steelers hope the hiring of a new head coach ends the Groundhog's Day-like cycle they've been stuck in. The new coach will have to hit the ground running, especially when it comes to evaluating the roster for the 2026 season.

The model under the final years of Mike Tomlin were to patchwork their holes with veterans. Players like Aaron Rodgers and Jalen Ramsey were the latest crop of players the Steelers falsely placed their hopes in. But there has been no greater waste of a roster space or salary this season than the rueful addition of tight end Jonnu Smith, and the new head coach must figure out how to deal with this.

Square Peg, Round Hole

The excitement surrounding Jonnu Smith was justifiable entering the season. He was coming off a career-best offensive campaign with the Miami Dolphins and had already established rapport with offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. It was all adding up for Smith to continue that progress in Pittsburgh.

But the fit was anything but good between the Steelers and Smith. From the jump, there was an obvious misalignment. With a trio of tight ends, there was no obvious starter or preferred target in the bunch. Still, he played in just over 52% of the offensive snaps during the regular season.

Over those 17 games, he was a non-factor. He hauled in 38 receptions for 222 yards and two touchdowns. He established no connection with Aaron Rodgers, and he became the third most-effective tight end behind Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington.

In a desperate attempt to get anything out of the supposed playmaker, the Steelers even deployed him as a rusher. He carried the ball nine times for 70 yards and an additional score. Still, his 292 all-purpose yards were the fewest he recorded in a season since 2022.