The Pittsburgh Steelers are now into the regular season, in which they entered with big aspirations, in spite of a tumultuous start to the offseason. Significant players were lost via trade and free agency, players who have helped shape the course of the franchise in recent years. We even now sit here without Ben Roethlisberger after just two games.
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 have new starters. And quarterback was suddenly added to that list.
How will the season progress without Roethlisberger, behind Mason Rudolph? How will the young players advance into their expected roles? Will the new coaches be up to the task? Who is looking good in games? 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: Will the Steelers activate Sean Davis from the Reserve/Injured List at some point this season?
Considering the fact that he had been the Steelers’ starting free safety since the middle of his rookie year, it’s somewhat curious that in the final year of his rookie contract, veteran Sean Davis has become an afterthought.
But that’s what happens when you have a fairly pedestrian career and then see your team trade for a second-year 11th-overall pick who goes on to create five turnovers in six games while you’re sitting on the Reserve/Injured List.
My suspicion is that, by and large, many fans had almost entirely forgotten about Davis until head coach Mike Tomlin was asked about his status as he reaches his eligibility to be activated from the Reserve/Injured List.
After all, he had hardly played at all up to that point in which he was injured in Week Two. And that was after he already missed the opener, which was started by Kameron Kelly. The Steelers went out and acquired Minkah Fitzpatrick after Davis was moved to IR, and he has been strong since he arrived.
Enough to make Davis an afterthought, even though they technically could use him if healthy as a third safety. Yet the Steelers have recently moved away from using their third safety in the dime, opting for Mike Hilton and Cameron Sutton, both of whom are safety-capable, anyway.
We don’t even know if Davis is healthy enough to start practicing, or will be by the time the season ends, but even if he is, the Steelers don’t have to ever activate him. They could even take into consideration his free agency status, and protecting him from further injury could help his value, and thus his compensatory return.
