The Pittsburgh Steelers will play the Tennessee Titans on Sunday and on the road and if you’re like me, you’re counting down the hours until the game begins. As usual, I will attempt to project the Steelers inactives for every game of the 2020 season and below is my best guess as to which players won’t be given helmets Sunday afternoon against the Titans.
Game inactives are officially announced 90 minutes before kickoff, so make sure you check back at that time to see the names of the players for both teams who will be sitting the game out. Also, the new roster rules make this exercise even harder as team’s can promote up to two players from their practice squads to their active roster on gamedays. Team’s also can dress up to 48 players for games if 8 offensive linemen are dressed.
FB Derek Watt – A hamstring injury will prevent Watt from playing on Sunday against the Titans. Watt, who also missed the Steelers Week 5 game with a hamstring injury, failed to practice any this past week and that led to him being officially ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Titans on the team’s Friday injury report. With Watt sidelined for Sunday, the Steelers will likely elevate running back Trey Edmunds from their practice squad again like they did two weeks ago. This will mark the second career game that Watt has missed.
CB Mike Hilton – Hilton, like Watt, will miss the Steelers Sunday game against the Titans due to an injury. Hilton suffered a shoulder injury in the team’s Week 6 home win and after leaving that contest, he did not return. Hilton failed to practice any this past week and it led to him officially being ruled out for Sunday’s road game against the Titans on the team’s Friday injury report. With Hilton sidelined on Sunday, cornerback Cameron Sutton will likely be the one to fill in at the nickel position on defense.
QB Joshua Dobbs – Dobbs remains the third-string backup quarterback to starter Ben Roethlisberger and Mason Rudolph going into the team’s Week 7 game and that’s not a bit surprising. Barring any injuries, Dobbs is likely to remain the Steelers third quarterback all season so that means he will likely be listed quite frequently on the team’s game-day inactive list in 2020. Dobbs has already been inactive five times this season and his sixth time should happen on Sunday against the Titans.
DT Carlos Davis – Davis, the team’s seventh-round selection in the 2020 NFL Draft, was inactive for the team’s first five games and on Sunday against the Titans he’ll likely be on the list of six players once again. With everyone seemingly extremely healthy on the defensive line heading into the Week 7 road game, Davis can probably look forward to not dressing for games quite a bit throughout his rookie season. Additionally, the Steelers promoted defensive end Henry Mondeaux on Friday and that gives the Steelers seven defensive linemen on their 53-man roster.
TE Zach Gentry – Gentry has yet to dress for a game this season and it looks like he won’t get a helmet on Sunday against the Titans and especially if running back Trey Edmunds is elevated from the practice squad. Gentry is not much of a special teams asset and with fellow tight ends Vance McDonald and Eric Ebron both healthy, it will be hard to justify getting him a helmet if Edmunds is needed to help out to replace the injured Watt on Sunday.
G Derwin Gray – It looks like the Steelers will get starting right guard David DeCastro back from his abdomen injury on Sunday against the Titans and if that’s the case, the team shouldn’t need Gray to dress for the road game. The Steelers backup offensive lineman on Sunday against the Titans should be guard Kevin Dotson, J.C. Hassenauer, and Jerald Hawkins. Gray has already been inactive a few times this season.
DE Henry Mondeaux – (Updated) With the Saturday elevation of outside linebacker Jayrone Elliott, Mondeaux, who was signed yo the Steelers 53-masn roster on Friday, will likely be the seventh inactive player on Sunday against the Titans.
