Steelers 2025 X-factors: DAVE DAMESHEK likes Joey Porter Jr. on defense? Broderick Jones on offense?

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On the Friday episode of the North Shore Drive podcast, presented by Edgar Snyder & Associates, Post-Gazette Steelers insider Christopher Carter welcomes podcaster Dave Dameshek to get his assessment of the team ahead of training camp next month at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe.

They begin by pondering which young players could be x-factors in 2025, with a specific focus on the 2023 NFL draft class that included Joey Porter Jr., Broderick Jones, Nick Herbig, Keeanu Benton and Cory Trice Jr. Will those guys be the difference makers if coach Mike Tomlin and Co. are going to have a good season? Or, if they struggle, could they drag the whole team down regardless of what new faces like Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf and others bring to the table?

Later, the guys look to Steelers history for lessons in leadership that could help the current squad. And Dave plays a game of "What If?" Imagining what might have happened had Ben Roethlisberger retired after his 2019 arm injury, and whether names like Jordan Love, Justin Herbert or Jalen Hurts could be the team's franchise quarterback right now.