New Steelers safety shares bold prediction for 2026 season

There's plenty of reason to believe the Pittsburgh Steelers will take a major step forward in 2026, but one new safety on the team made a bold prediction for this upcoming season.

According to standout safety Jaquan Brisker , a Pittsburgh native who joined the Steelers this offseason, the defense has all the tools to be a top-three unit in the NFL.

“I feel like we have the potential to be the best, to be top five, top three, to get back to what Pittsburgh is used to with their defense being on top,” Brisker said via Mark Kaboly. “We want to be a top-five defense, and that should be the mindset. We got talent everywhere, you know, from the D line, and we got dead linebackers, we got that, corners, nickel, safeties. We have depth, a lot of moving parts, and we are deep. We have a dope coaching staff, too.”

Brisker, selected by the Bears in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft, quickly emerged as a starting-caliber safety for Chicago 's defense, recording 342 combined tackles, 12 tackles for loss, seven sacks, and four interceptions in 52 career games.

When looking at Pittsburgh's defense on paper, it's easy to see why Brisker believes so much in his team. A top-three secondary? Check. A top-five defensive line? There's certainly an argument to be made. A top-three edge rushing room? Easily. If the Steelers' coaching staff can finally nail the defensive scheme, this will be one team that the rest of the league won't want to see in the playoffs.

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This article originally appeared on Steelers Wire: Steelers' Jaquan Brisker believes defense could be top-three in NFL