The Pittsburgh Steelers will play the New York Jets at home on Sunday afternoon in their fourth 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 Sunday at Acrisure Stadium against the Jets.
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 three weeks of the 2022 regular season as he has been the No. 3 quarterback on the depth chart. Nothing has changed once again 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 Sunday against the Jets. 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.
CB Ahkello Witherspoon – The Steelers ended Friday with Witherspoon listed as out on the team’s Week 4 injury report due to a hamstring injury that he sustained during the Week 3 game. This obviously means that Witherspoon will not play on Sunday against the Jets and thus he will be on the inactive list for the first time this season. Fellow cornerback Levi Wallace will likely start in place of Witherspoon on Sunday against the Jets.
G Kendrick Green – The Steelers have dressed eight of their nine total offensive linemen in their first three games of the 2022 regular season and Green has been the odd man out in that position group for all three of those contests. That’s not likely to change on Sunday afternoon against the Jets so you can expect Green to be one of the team’s inactive players once again. Jesse Davis has essentially been serving as the backup swing guard so far this season with Trent Scott serving as the top swing tackle. Additionally, J.C. Hassenauer remains the team’s top backup at the center position. Barring injuries, expect Green to be inactive for several more games this season.
WR Steven Sims – Just as was the case in the first three regular season games, the Steelers will likely look to dress just five wide receivers on Sunday afternoon against the Jets. If that’s the case, Sims will likely be the odd man out for a fourth consecutive game on Sunday against the Jets as his special teams value is really only as a returner, a job that fellow wide receiver Gunner Olszewski still owns heading into Week 4. 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 have been dressing rookie defensive lineman DeMarvin Leal over Loudermilk in their first three games of 2022 as part of the team having six total defensive linemen in helmets for games. This trend with Loudermilk being inactive figures to be extended on Sunday. It feels doubtful that the Steelers will dress all seven defensive linemen on Sunday.
OLB David Anenih – The Steelers elevated outside linebacker Ryan Anderson to the gameday Active/Inactive roster from the practice squad on Saturday and that move will likely once again result in Anenih being one the team’s gameday inactive players. Anenih was signed off the Tennessee Titans practice squad several weeks ago and he has been inactive for his first two games with the Steelers. The Steelers now have five outside linebackers on their Active/Inactive roster ahead of the Sunday game.
ILB Mark Robinson – The Steelers once again chose to dress six defensive linemen in Week 3 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 3 with Marcus Allen being no. 4 to help out on special teams. Expect the same four in that position group to get helmets on Sunday against the Jets. In short, look for Robinson to once again be inactive at Acrisure Stadium for the team’s second home game of 2022.
