Guess what, folks. It’s training camp time. And that means it’s time for training camp questions. For the first time since 2019, the Pittsburgh Steelers are actually back at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe after having been forced to remain in Pittsburgh, where they held their past two training camps inside of the Field Formerly Known as Heinz.
Even though the Steelers are back on very familiar ground, more specifically on that of Chuck Noll Field, this is a training camp that is unusually full of certainty. After all, they haven’t had a genuine quarterback battle in a couple of decades, but they have one now with Mitch Trubisky, Kenny Pickett, and Mason Rudolph.
We’ve got yet another new offensive line, with some incoming veterans in James Daniels and Mason Cole. Myles Jack is in at inside linebacker, replacing Joe Schobert, and we’ll have to see if Devin Bush can return to form after last year’s dismal display.
There’s still so much going on, and training camp will only create more questions as we go along, even as it starts to provide some answers. We’ll be covering them here on a daily basis for the community to “talk amongst yourselves”, as Linda Richman might say on Coffee Talk.
Question: Which veteran defensive lineman deemed ‘inside the bubble’ is most at risk of losing his roster spot?
If there is one area of the Steelers’ roster that is genuinely competitive in a productive manner right now, it is the defensive line. They have up to nine or 10 players battling it out there right now who could make a reasonable argument for the 53-man roster—all of whom, sans the rookie, have been on rosters before.
Cameron Heyward, Tyson Alualu, and Larry Ogunjobi are your stone-cold locks to make the team as veterans. There’s basically nothing that can happen, barring criminal activity, that would result in them getting cut or traded. Rookie third-round pick DeMarvin Leal, if there was any doubt due to his pedigree, has already played well enough to merit a year on the roster to develop, at worst.
That’s four spots, and, at most, there are three remaining. Conventional wisdom has those spots going to Chris Wormley, Montravius Adams, and Isaiahh Loudermilk, but twins Carlos and Khalil Davis aren’t making it so easy. With their versatility, they could also be a three to either inside or outside linemen.
Wormley is probably the safest of those three, though stranger things have happened. But between him, Adams, and Loudermilk, who do you believe is most in danger of potentially missing the cut? Even if we assume that neither Davis brother makes it, one of those three could be cut if the team decides to only carry six linemen, as is what they do very nearly every single year.
