The Pittsburgh Steelers will play the Dallas Cowboys 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 Cowboys.
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.
QB Joshua Dobbs – Dobbs remains the third-string backup quarterback to starter Ben Roethlisberger and Mason Rudolph going into the team’s Week 9 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 seven times this season and his eighth time should happen on Sunday against the Cowboys.
CB Mike Hilton – The shoulder injury that Hilton suffered back in Week 6 continues to hinder the veteran cornerback. While Hilton was able to practice all week on a limited basis, he ended Friday being listed as doubtful on the team’s Week 9 injury report. This should wind up with Hilton once again being inactive on Sunday and that will make three games in a row he’s missed with his shoulder injury. With Hilton likely sidelined again, cornerback Cameron Sutton will continue to play a considerable amount of sub package snaps against the Cowboys on Sunday.
DE Tyson Alualu – After suffering a knee injury early in the Steelers Week 8 road game against the Baltimore Ravens, Alualu was removed from the contest for good. The veteran defensive lineman, who has been a picture of health for his entire career, failed to practice all week and was ultimately ruled out for the Sunday game against the Cowboys on the team’s Friday injury report. With Alualu out for Sunday, rookie defensive tackle Carlos Davis is expected to dress for the first time ever. Backup defensive linemen Henry Mondeaux and Isaiah Buggs are both expected to dress on Sunday as well with Buggs likely starting at nose tackle in the base defense in place of Alualu.
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 Cowboys. Gentry is not much of a special teams asset and with fellow tight ends Vance McDonald and Eric Ebron all seemingly ready to play, Gentry will likely be a spectator afgain.
G Derwin Gray – The Steelers waived guard Stefen Wisniewski on Saturday that likely means Gray will likely be inactive once again against the Cowboys. The Steelers backup offensive linemen on Sunday against the Cowboys should be guard Kevin Dotson, center J.C. Hassenauer, and tackle Jerald Hawkins. Gray has already been inactive a few times this season.
RB Anthony McFarland – The sixth and final inactive is a tough guess. Assuming rookie safety Antoine Brooks Jr. dresses on Sunday following his Saturday elevation, it would make sense for either McFarland or running back Jaylen Samuels to be inactive. McFarland does not have any special teams value so he could wind up being the odd man out. That’s my guess, but I will not be surprised if Samuels is sat down just the same. It’s likely to be one of the two, however.
