With the preseason in the books, the only drama between now and the season opener for the Pittsburgh Steelers is roster cutdowns. From the outside looking in, there are only a handful of real roster decisions left to make and some of those will come down to preference of numbers at certain positions instead of an actual positional roster battle.
This means that there will be players that will be cut by Pittsburgh that are worthy NFL players who simply got caught in the numbers game. Trying to get those players to the practice squad involves risk as they become exposed to other teams.
Former Steelers DL Chris Hoke believes this is a positive sign for the roster.
“There’s going to be some very difficult decisions and I think the Steelers are going to try to take some of these guys and sneak them onto the practice squad. You’re going to end up losing some good players. That’s a good problem to have, though,” Hoke said on KDKA’s Nightly Sports Call. “When you have good players that you’re trying to sneak them onto the practice squad and you lose them. Hopefully that means this team is going to do really, really well this year.”
The position generating the most buzz all offseason has been quarterback. Aaron Rodgers will be the starter and Mason Rudolph appears safe after neither of the young quarterbacks proved they were ready to be the backup in preseason action. With Drew Allar seemingly locked into a roster spot, the bigger question is whether Will Howard end up being one of the players that Hoke mentioned will be snuck to the practice squad.
That seems unlikely based on Mike McCarthy’s postgame comments following the preseason finale. Even if it goes against usual roster construction, Pittsburgh seems destined to keep four quarterbacks. But if they are feeling the numbers crunch at another position, could the Steelers risk losing Howard?
Running back is another position group that doesn’t feel settled. Kaleb Johnson’s job appears to be in jeopardy, even as a third-round pick in his second season. That opens the door for Travis Homer, whose special teams ability gives him perhaps the best chance at the number three running back spot behind Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle.
Eli Heidenreich had a solid performance in the preseason finale and Lew Nichols has demonstrated his special teams ability as well to give Pittsburgh options for running back depth. Some combination of those four could be practice squad candidates if they can make it unclaimed.
Other positional battles to watch include Robert Spears-Jennings and Rayshawn Jenkins at safety and Gabriel Rubio versus Dean Lowry on the defensive line. Part of the decisions to be made there will revolve around numbers at each position, but the Steelers will also have to weigh the upside of a rookie against the experience of a veteran.
On the offensive line, Ryan McCollum and Doug Nester are players that are likely practice squad options if they are cut and Max Hurleman is the same at the wide receiver position.
Ultimately, the initial 53-man roster might look different from the group that takes the field in Week 1 against the Atlanta Falcons, as injuries could factor into the decision-making and lead to some surprise moves. As Hoke said, having to make difficult decisions on players who are capable of playing in the NFL is a good problem to have.
The Steelers appear to have more depth than they have roster spots, but that depth will only matter if they keep the right players around. Some of the players who don’t make the initial 53-man roster could still have a role later in the season. For now, the objective is to craft the best possible roster for Week one.