The Pittsburgh Steelers will play the Cleveland Browns Thursday night on the road in their third game of the 2022 regular season 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 2022 season and below is my best guess as to which players won’t be given helmets on Thursday night against the Browns.
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 elevate up to two players from their practice squads to their active roster for gamedays. Team’s also can dress up to 48 players for games if eight offensive linemen are dressed.
QB Mason Rudolph – As expected, Rudolph has been inactive for the first two weeks of the 2022 regular season as he has been the No. 3 quarterback on the depth chart. Nothing has changed this week when it comes to Rudolph’s position on the depth chart so you can expect rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett to once again backup starter Mitch Trubisky on Thursday night against the Browns. Barring any sort of injury to Trubisky or Pickett, look for Rudolph to remain on the weekly inactive list moving forward into the regular season. The 2022 trade deadline is November 1 so it will be interesting to see if Rudolph is still on the Steelers past that date.
G Kendrick Green – The Steelers have dressed eight of their nine total offensive linemen in their first two games of the 2022 regular season and Green has been the odd man out in that position group for both of those contests. That’s not likely to change on Thursday night so you can expect Green to be one of the team’s inactive players against the Browns. The Steelers are letting Jesse Davis essentially serve as the backup swing guard so far this season with Trent Scott serving as the top swing tackle. Additionally, J.C. Hassenauer is the team’s top backup at the center position. Barring injuries, expect Green to be inactive for most of the team’s 2022 games.
ILB Mark Robinson – The Steelers once again chose to dress six defensive linemen in Week 2 and that resulted in the rookie Robinson being in inactive for a third consecutive NFL game. The Steelers also dressed four inside linebackers in total in Week 2 with Marcus Allen being no. 4 to help out on special teams. With fellow inside linebacker Devin Bush making it through the week with his foot injury, expect the same four in that position group to get helmets on Thursday night against the Browns. In short, look for Robinson to once again be inactive at FirstEnergy Stadium for the team’s second road game of 2022.
WR Steven Sims – Just as was the case in the first two regular season games, the Steelers will likely look to dress just five wide receivers on Thursday night against the Browns. If that’s the case, Sims will likely be the odd man out once again as his special teams value is really only as a returner, a job that fellow wide receiver Gunner Olszewski still owns. The only way Sims figures to get a helmet in the coming weeks is if an injury to another wide receiver occurs. He’s only dressed for one game since joining the Steelers over a year ago.
DE Isaiahh Loudermilk – The Steelers decided to dress rookie defensive lineman DeMarvin Leal over Loudermilk in their first two games of 2022 as part of the team having six total defensive linemen in helmets. Leal played quite a bit on the edge in Week 2 with outside linebacker T.J. Watt now sidelined with his pectoral injury so we can probably look forward to more of that happening on Thursday night against the Browns. In short, look for Loudermilk to be inactive for a third consecutive game on Thursday night.
OLB David Anenih – The Steelers once again elevated outside linebacker Delontae Scott to the gameday Active/Inactive roster on Thursday and that move will likely once again result in Anenih being one the team’s six inactive players later tonight. Anenih was signed off the Tennessee Titans practice squad last the week and he was inactive for his first game with the Steelers last Sunday. The team might still have more confidence in Scott right now as Anenih continues to get on the moving train. Scott might be considered the better special teams player of the two as well, though he did not log any snaps in that phase in Week 2. The Steelers now have five outside linebackers on their Active/Inactive roster ahead of the Thursday night game so it’s likely that either Anenih or Scott won’t receive a helmet.
