The Pittsburgh Steelers are quickly trimming their roster down to 53. After releasing and/or trading 10 players over the weekend, they have released 10 more Monday. The 10 are QB Tanner Morgan, RB Darius Hagans, OL Le’Raven Clark and Bill Dunkle, LBs Tanner Muse and Toby Ndukwe, DL Manny Jones, CB Lavert Hill, and safeties Jalen Elliott and Kenny Robinson.
The Steelers roster now sits at 70, meaning they need to make 17 more cuts by Tuesday’s 4 PM/EST deadline.
Morgan was an UDFA and fourth-string quarterback who posed little threat to a roster spot. Clark and Muse are among the most notable cuts, Clark a veteran with plenty of experience but a poor camp performance. Muse was viewed as someone with an inside track on a roster spot but he’s being waived. It’s unclear if he will return to the team. Robinson did well in camp but fizzled out during preseason action.
Hagans was undrafted from Virginia State but struggled with ball security and lost playing time throughout the summer. Ndukwe was also undrafted and made the team after initially trying out with the Steelers in rookie minicamp. He was up and down in the preseason but recorded a sack on the final play of Thursday’s win over Atlanta. Jones is an athletic defensive lineman who struggled to anchor against the run while Hill and Elliott were late-camp adds to provide more depth to the team.
Here are our post-camp blurbs on each player.
Tanner Morgan
“Pittsburgh made an effort to get him reps, something they didn’t do with 7th rounder Chris Oladokun a year ago. That was partly because of the team’s increased comfort in the QB room, willing to give Mitch Trubisky and Mason Rudolph one day off from team period apiece that allowed Morgan to handle a couple of reps.
To his credit, Morgan looked fearless in practice and willing to take shots downfield, even if they were ill-advised. It led to one near-interception by DB Chris Wilcox and one actual pick by S Kenny Robinson, a Morgan pass attempted into triple-coverage.
The Steelers thrust him into playing in the season opener. Despite only 20-something reps in team period and no practice work except for maybe a bit in the closed Thursday walkthrough, Morgan predictably struggled in his NFL debut, muffing an exchange, throwing a pick, and taking a sack. Playing him late in the game, the final drive, would’ve been fine, but Pittsburgh put too much on his plate. For a rookie, you shouldn’t get more stadium reps than what you had in practice.
Entering camp, his odds of making the 53 were slim. And nothing happened this camp that closed that ocean-wide gap. Morgan’s time with the team will end on August 29, cutdown day.”
Darius Hagans
“Hagans made it through all of camp but he didn’t exit it looking any stronger. He looked the part and had sleeper potential. But little about his game was exciting. His numbers look better than expected, averaging 3.4 YPC (not a bad number for camp) but he was generally a “get what’s blocked” kind of dude. He wasn’t used in the passing game, catching only two passes, and there isn’t much to say about his game. Fumbles were a problem with two in team period and another in 7v7, leading to the “carry a football around all day” treatment. As RBs Coach Eddie Faulkner says, job security is ball security.
He fell down the depth chart and his reps were limited by the end of the summer.”
Le’Raven Clark
“Signed as a veteran insurance policy in the offseason, Clark looked as expected. Which is to say, he’s probably not making the team. There’s value in his versatility and he has the length (36-inch arms) the Steelers covet. But he’s so slow-footed off the ball. Nick Herbig cooked him off the edge early in camp. He’s a lunger, a reacher, and the tape just isn’t pretty. I guess he wasn’t quite as bad in-game as I feared he might; it helped he has more experience than many of those he was facing. Running with the second string for most of camp, he fell to third string by its end and should be released on the 29th.”
Bill Dunkle
“My favorite name of camp. Bill Dunkle. If only the play matched it. Dunkle is an aggressive run-blocker but that’s about it. He’s uncoordinated and unbalanced and falls off his blocks too often. In pass protection, he too easily doubles over and gives up the edge over and over again. Dunkle just looked overmatched here, especially pass pro. Without a ton of other options and some experience in the system, a full year with the team, maybe he hangs around the practice squad. But I’d be exploring external options with better preseason tape.”
Manny Jones
“An interesting athlete, he was one of the d-linemen the team toyed around with at outside linebacker. In fact, he saw the most extensive time there, finishing out the Bills’ game at ROLB. A good athlete, he flashed as a pass rusher in moments during camp. It wasn’t consistent and reps were hard to come by with run defense not being his strongest suit, he does get pushed around, but he’s a dollar store version of DeMarvin Leal. There’s practice squad potential here.”
Tanner Muse
“A college safety, he strictly played linebacker this summer, though it’s little surprise. That’s what he did in Seattle before signing a deal with Pittsburgh. Muse was seeing a lot of third-team reps and looked fine but his play stepped up against Buffalo with a run stuff, pass breakup, and fumble recovery. Durable and unavailable while LB Nick Kwiatkoski battled a shoulder injury towards the end. It seems like Muse has the advantage as a core special teamer. Through the first two preseason game, his 25 special teams snaps led the team.”
Toby Ndukwe
“He signed with the Steelers this April after going undrafted out of Sam Houston State. His camp was very up and down and I mean the latter literally. He was on the wrong end of some of the ugliest moments of camp, pancaked by TE Rodney Williams and C/FB Kendrick Green on separate occasions. But he’s tough and looks coachable and got better, fighting through his mistakes. His run defense improved during camp.
As a pass rusher, there’s a bit of strength and athleticism but it’s still not very notable. Nor did he really stick out on special teams. He saw a lot of action but couldn’t capitalize on the snap. Like fellow UDFA David Perales, he could stick on the practice squad but I don’t see long-term staying power here.”
Kenny Robinson
“Dubbed our 2023 Steelers camp darling, Robinson got off to a hot start. A playmaker with a team-high three interceptions in camp, they weren’t gimmies. He picked off a Mason Rudolph slant in seven shots and high-pointed two picks deep downfield later in camp. Robinson wants the ball and isn’t shy about it, leaping to be the first in the air to take away. He soaked up a ton of first-team reps with Fitzpatrick, Kazee, and Neal out of action. And to his credit, Robinson was available for every rep all offseason.
Things faded down the stretch. The safety group got healthy, and Robinson was bumped back to second-team action, though he saw plenty of time in the preseason finale (34 snaps) and he played 103 across the three games. His stadium action was underwhelming, looking shaky in coverage and taking too many chances. He’s a fine tackler with size but after a start that may have been tracking him to the 53-man roster, it looks like he’s more in line for a practice squad spot.”
Lavert Hill
“Signed on the same day as [Nevelle] Clarke, he was a replacement for Duke Dawson, injured in the preseason opener. Same deal as Clarke, not much to note. He saw a bit more playing time, 29 snaps over the final two preseason games, with the team having fewer slot options than outside guys. Hill was asked to blitz quite a lot in the finale, three of his snaps. But he wasn’t targeted and I don’t have much of a description here of his play.”
Jalen Elliott
“Another mid-camp add to help get the team through the summer, Elliott is a skinnier-framed player without much speed or athleticism. But he’ll come up and tackle and isn’t afraid to do the dirty work. He split time between free and strong safety in camp and saw 65 reps during the preseason so he got plenty of burn to share with teams when he’s released and getting on the in-season tryout circuit.”
