The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2021 season is over, already eliminated from the postseason after suffering a 42-21 loss at the hands of Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. They just barely made the postseason with a 9-7-1 record and a little help from their friends.
This is an offseason of major change, with the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger, the possible retirement of general manager Kevin Colbert, and the decisions about the futures of many important players to be made, such as Joe Haden, Stephon Tuitt, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and others—some already decided, some not.
Aside from exploring their options at the quarterback position, the top global priority, once again, figures to be addressing the offensive line, which they did not do quite adequately enough a year ago. Dan Moore Jr. looks like he may have a future as a full-time starter, but Kendrick Green was clearly not ready. Chukwuma Okorafor was re-signed, but Trai Turner was not. James Daniels and Mason Cole were added in free agency.
These are the sorts of topics 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. There is rarely a concrete answer, but this is your venue for exploring the topics we present through all their uncertainty.
Question: How secure is Isaiahh Loudermilk’s roster spot following the signing of Larry Ogunjobi?
Provided that nobody is injured or traded between now and the start of the regular season, it would most likely be the case, in the even that he is carried onto the 53-man roster, that Isaiahh Loudermilk would represent the seventh defensive lineman spot.
The problem is, the Steelers don’t typically carry seven defensive linemen, especially not in today’s day and age when they play so much ball with only two on the field. But that’s the reality we’re looking at following recent events.
Although Stephon Tuitt retired, the Steelers replaced his spot on the 90-man roster by signing Larry Ogunjobi, an experienced veteran starter. Along with Cameron Heyward and Tyson Alualu, you also have Chris Wormley (a starter last year in place of Tuitt). Then there’s Montravius Adams as the backup nose tackle, and you have to include rookie third-round draft pick DeMarvin Leal.
That’s six. And I don’t see how anybody can predict that Loudermilk would make the 53-man roster over any of them. So, again, barring injury or a trade situation, how is he going to make the team? The Steelers would have to carry seven defensive linemen.
Now, with Alualu getting up there and only under contract through 2022, and Ogunjobi on a one-year deal, the Steelers do have incentive to go heavy on the defensive line in order to preserve a young player with potential. But it has to make sense from a roster perspective. So, again, the question is, how secure is Isaiahh Loudermilk’s roster spot, really, when you look at it objectively?
