Cameron Heyward
Pittsburgh SteelersOVERPAIDModel Score
How good he is at what he is supposed to be doing, out of 100. Not a projection of what he will do next, and not a read on his contract. Median is about 70, and a 95 is rare. How it is built →
Season Stats · 17 games
Draft & College
Comps
STM Take
Six Pro Bowls plus three 1st-team All-Pros plus 15 years at one team plus the 2024 1st-team All-Pro bounce-back at age 35 establishes Heyward as a Hall-of-Fame interior defender. The Ohio State pedigree plus the NFL-family bloodline plus the Steelers structural anchor role gives him one of the most stable elite careers at the position. The 2026 question is whether Heyward extends through age 37 or whether the structural late-career decline finally closes the elite chapter.
Heyward came out of Ohio State as the Pittsburgh Steelers' 1st-round pick (31st overall) in 2011 and has made six Pro Bowls (2017, 2019-2021, 2023, 2024) plus three 1st-team All-Pros (2019, 2020, 2024). He is the son of former NFL fullback Craig Heyward. His STTM career runs tier 1 (#3) in 2021, tier 1 (#4) in 2022, tier 7 (#52) in 2023, tier 1 (#5) bounce-back in 2024, and tier 3 (#18) in 2025 at age 36.
Strengths
- Six Pro Bowls plus three 1st-team All-Pros plus 15 years at one team plus the 2024 1st-team All-Pro at age 35 establishes a Hall-of-Fame résumé.
- 2024 tier 1 (#5) bounce-back after the 2023 tier 7 dip confirms the elite ceiling is still reachable in his late-career chapter.
Concerns
- 13-spot regression from tier 1 (#5) in 2024 to tier 3 (#18) in 2025 plus age 36 flags the structural late-career decline.
- Pittsburgh's broader defensive identity transition (T.J. Watt contract reset) compresses the structural support around Heyward's continued production.
What to watch: Whether Heyward extends through age 37 in 2026 plus holds tier 4 or better, the threshold for closing the Hall-of-Fame résumé case.