The Pittsburgh Steelers are now in Latrobe at Saint Vincent College, where they have held their training camp sessions since 1966. While the vast majority of the legwork of building the 90-man roster is done, there is always some fine tinkering to do. Now it’s time to figure out who is worthy of a roster spot, and what their role will be.
The team made some bold moves this offseason and in some areas of the roster look quite a bit different than they did a year ago. That would especially be the case at wide receiver and inside linebacker, where they’re bound to have new starters.
How will those position groups sort themselves out? How will the young players advance into their expected roles? Will the new coaches be up to the task? Who is looking good in practice? Who is sitting out due to injury?
These are the sorts of questions among many others that we have been exploring on a daily basis and will continue to do so. Football has become a year-round pastime and there is always a question to be asked, though there is rarely a concrete answer, as I’ve learned in my years of doing this.
Question: Who will be given the final 11th spot on the practice squad?
The Steelers announced 10 of their 11 practice squad spots yesterday, consisting of running back Trey Edmunds, tight ends Kevin Rader and Christian Scotland-Williamson (with an exemption), offensive linemen Patrick Morris and Derwin Gray, wide receiver Tevin Jones, defensive lineman Henry Mondeaux, inside linebacker Robert Spillane, cornerback Trevon Mathis, and safety Marcus Allen.
The glaring hole to me is at wide receiver. For the past two years, they have kept six on the 53-man roster and another two on the practice squad. Currently, they have only six wide receivers in total between the roster and practice squad.
Reportedly, the Steelers intended to add Diontae Spencer to the practice squad, making him the seventh, but he was claimed off waivers by the Denver Broncos, so it’s almost a sure thing that another wide receiver is going to be added in some form or fashion.
Johnny Holton has seemed to indicate that the Steelers intend to bring him back in some way, but it hasn’t happened yet. If he was going to be signed to the practice squad one would think it would have happened today with the rest of the moves, however.
So who else might it be? Truthfully, nobody who is eligible for the practice squad performed particularly well. Trey Griffey made a catch or two, and would be yet another retread from last year’s practice squad. Brandon Reilly would be the only other name, unless they sign somebody from the outside to bring in, if it’s not Holton. Or I could be completely off the trail and it goes to another position, such as defensive line (Casey Sayles?) or another safety.
