Steelers Training Camp Winners and Losers: Week 2

The Pittsburgh Steelers are more than halfway through their 2026 training camp and there has been plenty of excitement, and plenty of disappointment.

Leaving Week 2 at Saint Vincent College, several players stood out as winners. The pads came on and guys started looking even more impressive than they did during the ramp-up period.

At the same time, players started struggling. Some much more than others.

So, before the black and gold return to Latrobe for Week 3, here are the biggest winners and losers from Week 2.

Winners

Derrick Harmon & Yahya Black

The Steelers decided Derrick Harmon, Cam Heyward and Yahya Black will likely be their starting three on the defensive line, and what a great idea that looks to be.

Harmon might be the most dangerous man on the Steelers' roster. He's nearly unstoppable against the run and is finding a groove against the pass as well. He's not a one-trick pony like he was a year ago, and Pittsburgh is going to watch him explode in his sophomore season.

Black looks like the second-scariest man. Maybe it's the excitement for anyone who openly rocks a 330-pound belly at practice, but Black has everyone fired up about his potential, and it putting on a show at training camp.

Since the pads have come on, he's been one of the best players on the field, beating starters like Zach Frazier, Mason McCormick and Spencer Anderson as the nose tackle. The starting nose tackle.

Brandon Smith

The biggest winner and probably the best-looking offensive player on the Steelers' roster is Brandon Smith. The 27-year-old shouldn't make this team, but he's doing everything he possible can to do so.

Whether it's diving catches in the endzone from Drew Allar or having one of the best connections on the team with Aaron Rodgers, Smith is involved at all times and has continued to make plays for two straight weeks.

Right now, it's going to be hard to keep Smith off of this roster with how impressive he looks. And unless he slows down, he'll end training camp as the biggest winner of the 90-man roster.

Gabe Rubio

Well hello, Gabe Rubio. The sixth-round pick out of Notre Dame had virtually no chance of making the team coming into training camp and many were still shocked by the draft pick overall. But Rubio is proving the coaching staff and scouting department right, becoming more and more impressive by the day.

He's a capable run defender in the middle of the defense and has held his own against names like Brock Hoffman and Ryan McCollum. Right now, he's on the 53-man team and it may not even be much of a competition to stay there at this point.

He looks physical and impossible to move. It's been an impressive run for a player many had little expectations for.

Jamel Dean

Jamel Dean was starting to gather some worry heading into the second week of training camp. Truthfully, he didn't look good on the opening week and there were some concerns about why that was.

Well, that's now gone. Dean is pretty consistently winning reps against DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman Jr., and ended Week 2 of camp with a pick-six against Aaron Rodgers on the first pass of Saturday Night Lights.

The Steelers defintiely have a guy in Dean and you'e starting to see it. With Asante Samuel Jr. continuing to look great, Pittsburgh's cornerback room may be one of the most surprising in the NFL, but also one of the best.

Kevin Jobity Jr.

The most surprising and unknown name on this list is Kevin Jobity Jr. The undrafted rookie out of Syracuse is probably one of the most impressive defensive linemen in a group that looks ridiculously good this offseason.

Jobity is winning reps on the inside in both run and pass defense and is also working on the outside as an edge rusher and bringing explosiveness out there as well.

Truthfully, it's fun to watch. Jobity is the most unknown name on this list and probably the most unknown name in anyone's notebook who's keeping track of practice. Will he make the team? It's still a long shot, but if he can continue to impress, the Steelers will be hoping to land him on the practice squad as he continues to develop.

Losers

Will Howard

Will Howard had a worse week than he did in Week 1, but what puts him on this list is Mike McCarthy's love for Mason Rudolph. It just doesn't feel likely that the team will keep all four quarterbacks, and if Howard can't beat out Rudolph, then he's going to end up on the practice squad or another team's roster.

The bigger problem is that Howard looked worse in the second week of camp and that probably set him back even further. So, he's walking into the first week of the preseason with a lot of ground to make up and little time to do so.

Gennings Dunker

The Steelers' third-round pick had everyone excited after he was selected. Gennings Dunker was supposed to be good enough to come in and compete with Spencer Anderson and Brock Hoffman for a starting job. That has not been the case.

Dunker needs plenty of work. He's fine as a run blocker, but once he needs to drop into pass protection, he gets high, loses his footwork and is getting beat on almost every rep.

It's been a rough camp for Dunker, and it's been highlighted even more with the pads on. If he wasn't a third-round pick, he probably wouldn't make the team this season, but the Steelers will continue to work with him and help him find his groove at the NFL level.

Broderick Jones

Broderick Jones had a bounce-back day to end the week, but overall, the return of Jones has been rough to watch. His technic looks terrible and he's slow at the point of attack. Add him being barely 300 pounds and easily the lightest offensive lineman on the roster and it's a brutal combination for a player returning from a serious neck injury.

It's a big week for Jones if he wants to stick around. Otherwise, his time in Pittsburgh may be over.

Kaden Wetjen

The Steelers drafted Kaden Wetjen to be a return specialist, and no one would care how he performed on offense, if he wasn't a fourth-round pick. But he was, and all eyes are on him anytime he's on the field.

Offensively, he just can't get anything going.

Wetjen's week was highlighted by two terrible drops from Drew Allar in a two-minute drill, and it really never turned back around. He doesn't look like a wideout at the NFL level and that brings up questions about how many special teams aces you can keep in the wide receiver room before you risk being too thin on actual pass-catching options.

Wetjen will make the team with ease, but he is not someone people should be talking about as an offensive player.