Bryan: 2026 Steelers 53-Man Roster Prediction: Pre-Training Camp Edition<\/a><\/p>\nOffense (25)<\/p>\n
Quarterbacks (3)\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Aaron Rodgers, Will Howard, Drew Allar<\/p>\n
Analysis: Yes, I hear the rumblings about the Steelers possibly keeping four quarterbacks on their initial 53-man roster. While I am more open to that than I was several weeks ago, I\u2019m not completely there yet. It\u2019s exceedingly rare that teams do such a thing. For now, I am still keeping Howard over Mason Rudolph in my three-QB scenario.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s see how Howard plays in the second preseason game and go from there. In the meantime, several of you need to work a little harder in the comments to twist my arm to keep four quarterbacks, or at the very least, Rudolph over Howard.<\/p>\n
Running Backs (3) \u2013\u00a0Jaylen Warren,\u00a0Rico Dowdle, Travis Homer<\/p>\n
Analysis: I left Kaleb Johnson off my initial 53-man roster prediction, and I am leaving him off this one as well. Something drastic needs to happen for him to avoid the waiver wire in a few weeks. Homer appears destined to be the third running back to start the season, especially because of his special teams abilities. He\u2019s the personal protector on the punt team. While I initially included rookie Eli Heidenreich in my first roster prediction, the numbers won\u2019t allow me to keep him this time.<\/p>\n
Wide Receivers (6)\u00a0\u2013\u00a0DK Metcalf,\u00a0Michael Pittman Jr.,\u00a0Roman Wilson,\u00a0Germie Bernard, Ben Skowronek, Kaden Wetjen<\/p>\n
Analysis: Barring any significant injuries over the next few weeks, this group of six wide receivers certainly feels like the six the team will carry into the regular season. Skowronek is being kept mainly because of his special-teams abilities, while Wetjen is poised to be the team\u2019s kickoff and punt returner.<\/p>\n
Tight Ends\/Fullbacks (4)\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Pat Freiermuth, Darnell Washington, Robert Tonyan,\u00a0Riley Nowakowski<\/p>\n
Analysis: I would like to use this space to publicly apologize to Tonyan for leaving him off my initial 53-man prediction. At this point, it would be a huge surprise if he isn\u2019t on the team come the start of the regular season. This is certainly not an awful group of tight ends.<\/p>\n
Offensive Linemen (9)\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Zach Frazier, Mason McCormick,\u00a0Troy Fautanu,\u00a0Spencer Anderson, Max Iheanachor, Dylan Cook, Brock Hoffman, Gennings Dunker, Broderick Jones<\/p>\n
Analysis: Jones avoided Active\/PUP at the start of training camp, a significant development. Two of the rookie draft picks, Iheanachor and Dunker, are currently dealing with minor injuries. But it\u2019s too early to worry about them starting the regular season on the Reserve\/Injured list. While HC Mike McCarthy has kept just eight total offensive linemen in the past with the Dallas Cowboys, keeping nine in his first season with the Steelers feels like the right amount.<\/p>\n
Defense (25)<\/p>\n
Defensive Linemen (6)\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Cameron Heyward,\u00a0Keeanu Benton,\u00a0Derrick Harmon, Sebastian Joseph-Day, Yahya Black, Gabriel Rubio<\/p>\n
Analysis: I had to let Esezi Otomewo go this time. I thought the rookie Rubio played really well in his preseason debut. He can be a versatile player at any position on the defensive line. He excels against the run, which could make him a must in goal-line situations. Will the Steelers dare to keep just six defensive linemen? I think the first five players listed in this position group are obvious choices.<\/p>\n
Inside Linebackers (5)\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Patrick Queen,\u00a0Payton Wilson, Elandon Roberts, Cole Holcomb,\u00a0Carson Bruener<\/p>\n
Analysis: The Steelers made a great decision signing Roberts back to the team. With that deal finalized, he appears destined for the 53-man roster. It\u2019s more than obvious at this point that Malik Harrison will be out the door in the next few weeks as long as the five inside linebackers listed above all stay healthy.<\/p>\n
Outside Linebackers (4)\u00a0\u2013\u00a0T.J. Watt,\u00a0Alex Highsmith,\u00a0Nick Herbig,\u00a0Jack Sawyer<\/p>\n
Analysis: There is no reason to change anything about the outside linebacker group. Yes, Jamin Davis had a nice showing in the preseason opener, but he should be able to be cut and signed to the practice squad without issues. The math says I need to keep just four at this position group, especially because I kept five inside linebackers.<\/p>\n
Cornerbacks (5)\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Joey Porter Jr.,\u00a0Jamel Dean,\u00a0Asante Samuel Jr., Brandin Echols, Daylen Everette<\/p>\n
Analysis: As my first prediction ahead of training camp suggested, this position group seems easy to predict. Well, at least the top five players are. Do they need to keep six in total with Jalen Ramsey being such a versatile player who can play outside cornerback, nickel\/slot cornerback, and free safety? Probably not, unless that extra cornerback is great on special teams.<\/p>\n
Safeties (5)\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Jalen Ramsey, Jaquan Brisker, DeShon Elliott, Rayshawn\u00a0Jenkins, Robert Spears-Jennings<\/p>\n
Analysis: Out goes Sebastian Castro this time, as I am replacing him with Jenkins. Jenkins is experienced, has special teams capabilities, and can play free safety if needed. He\u2019s a physical guy and a cheap one at that. I\u2019m not completely married to Jenkins, however, and there is a possibility this group winds up only being four in total.<\/p>\n
Obviously, Ramsey is likely to play a slot as a nickel\/money player this season. As for rookie Spears-Jennings, I look forward to watching him again on Friday night after his nice preseason debut.<\/p>\n
Specialists (3)<\/p>\n
Kicker (1)\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Chris Boswell<\/p>\n
Analysis: This is obvious. I bet I get this one right.<\/p>\n
Punter (1)\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Cameron Johnston<\/p>\n
Analysis: Johnston remains the only punter on the offseason 91-man roster, and there are no signs that will change over the next several weeks.<\/p>\n
Long Snapper (1)\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Christian Kuntz<\/p>\n
Analysis: Like Johnston, Kuntz is the only player in his position group, and there is no reason to think he won\u2019t remain the team\u2019s long snapper.<\/p>\n
Non-53-Man Spots (4)<\/p>\n
Reserve\/Injured (3) \u2013 Logan Lee, Cole Burgess, Daequan Hardy<\/p>\n
Analysis: Lee, Burgess, and Hardy are all currently on the Reserve\/Injured list, and it seems all three are destined to remain there at the start of the regular season. Here\u2019s to hoping this list does not grow any over the course of the next several weeks.<\/p>\n
Reserve\/Physically Unable To Perform (1) \u2013 Donte Kent<\/p>\n
Analysis: It seems like Kent could be headed to the Reserve\/PUP list for the start of the regular season, as he\u2019s yet to come off the Active\/PUP list.<\/p>\n
Practice Squad (17)\u00a0 \u2013 C Ryan McCollum, G\/T Doug Nester, T Jack Driscoll, WR Max Hurleman, RB Lew Nichols, RB Kaleb Johnson, RB\/WR Eli Heidenreich, TE Lance Mason, DT Dean Lowry, DT Esezi Otomewo, DT Kyler Baugh,\u00a0ILB Jacoby Windmon, CB Devan Boykin, CB D\u2019Shawn Jamison, S Israel Mukuamu, OLB Jamin Davis, OLB\u00a0Julius Welschof (INT exception)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pittsburgh Steelers completed their 2026 training camp last week. Now, they are preparing to play their second…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":787620,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[348035,69847,349,34316,99,3795],"class_list":["post-820911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-2026-preseason","tag-53-man-roster","tag-nfl","tag-predictions","tag-sports","tag-trending"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/820911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=820911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/820911\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/787620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=820911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=820911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=820911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}