The Pittsburgh Steelers waived an additional six players Tuesday afternoon and here is a look at each of them.
Hebron Fangupo – If you followed the training camp reports filed by our very own Alex Kozora, the early waiving of Fangupo probably isn’t a huge surprise to you. Fangupo almost instantly was running behind rookie Daniel McCullers right from the start. On top of that, Fangupo played all of 22 snaps in the first three preseason games and that certainly wasn’t a good sign for him. With it looking like McCullers is a lock to make the final 53 man roster, Fangupo had no shot. He’s already 29 years-old to boot.
Brian Arnfelt – At this time last year, many fans were worrying that Arnfelt wouldn’t make it to the practice squad if waived during the final cut-down. He made it without any issues and stayed on the eight man unit all season until promoted for the last few games due to injuries on the defensive line. What a difference a year makes as undrafted free agent Josh Mauro has now become this year’s Arnfelt. You could tell something was amiss during the Steelers first preseason game against the New York Giants when Arnfelt was running with the third-team defense behind Mauro and Ethan Hemer. That rotation stayed the same the next week against the Buffalo Bills. In total, Arnfelt played 40 third-team snaps in the first two preseason games. I expected him to hang around to the final cut, but the Steelers decided to let him go a few days early. We’ll see if they bring him back to the 10 man practice squad.
Luke Ingram – We still hardly know you, Luke. The Steelers obviously didn’t feel the need to carry two extra long snappers for the final week of the preseason and chose to keep Bryce Davis until Greg Warren is completely healthy. Davis can also play some tight end so perhaps that played into the decision as well. Maybe this is a sign that Warren will be ready for the season opener after all.
Tauren Poole – Poole was given a lot of opportunities to impress on special teams early on in the preseason, but outside of forcing a muffed punt as an upback, that’s about all he really did. He carried the ball eight times for 24 yards and sat out the third preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles with a hamstring injury.
Chris Elkins – With backup Cody Wallace currently sidelined by a finger injury, rookie draft pick Wesley Johnson has been serving as the backup behind starter Maurkice Pouncey. While Elkins can play some guard, the team is obviously more comfortable with Chris Hubbard and Will Simmons to close out the preseason. Elkins pretty much just got caught up in the numbers crunch. He played all of nine snaps during the preseason and they all came in the first game against the Giants.
Emmanuel McCray – It would have been a huge surprise if McCray made it past Tuesday as he didn’t see any snaps on the offensive line during the first three preseason games. I doubt he’s a candidate for the practice squad as well. If you ever need a definition of a training camp body, McCray is it.
