Jaquan Brisker points to Pittsburgh’s defense as a potential top-three unit after a disappointing season

Jaquan Brisker arrived in Pittsburgh as a free agent signing and quickly tied his own offseason expectations to the Steelers’ defensive identity. In recent comments reported by Yahoo Sports, Brisker said he believes Pittsburgh can get back to being one of the league’s premier defenses, even after a season in which the unit carried high costs and high expectations but produced uneven results.

The context for that confidence is stark. Pittsburgh spent heavily on its defensive group, and the Yahoo report notes the Steelers had the NFL’s most expensive defensive unit last season. Yet the same report states the team finished 26th in total defense, a rank that falls far short of what a front-loaded investment typically indicates to a roster-building team. For a defense built to disrupt offenses, the gap between spending and production set up a challenging narrative heading into the offseason.

Part of the story, according to the report, was availability. The Steelers dealt with injuries to key contributors, including T.J. Watt. Injuries alone do not erase the underlying statistical outcome, but they can help explain why continuity and schematics do not always translate cleanly into performance. The Yahoo account also references Derrick Harmon among the players affected, underscoring that the Steelers were not only relying on one health variable to correct course.

Another major factor in Brisker’s framing is change in how the defense is taught and organized. Yahoo Sports describes an entirely new coaching staff in Pittsburgh, suggesting that the Steelers are not simply running the same plan with healthier personnel. A new staff typically brings adjustments in preparation, play-calling philosophy, and how players are positioned to win their matchups. When a player describes the ceiling of a defense after a coaching reset, it often reflects belief that the system will better match the strengths of the current roster.

Brisker’s goal, as portrayed by the report, is not incremental improvement. He specifically sees Pittsburgh as capable of becoming a top-three defensive unit. That is a high bar in the NFL, where the difference between elite and merely good often comes down to consistent execution across all three phases of defense: pass rush pressure, coverage integrity, and the ability to limit explosive plays. With the Steelers already acknowledging a year that did not meet expectations, the offseason focus appears aimed at closing that performance gap.

The Steelers’ challenge now is translating the belief into early results on the field. If the defense is indeed trending upward, it will show up in fundamentals such as down-to-down tackling, reduced third-down conversions allowed, and fewer big-play breakdowns that can erase strong drives. Pittsburgh also has to ensure that improvements are not only tied to peak health, because a durable defense needs production even when rotations are tested.