Now that the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2023 season is getting underway after the team finished above .500 but failing to make the postseason last year, we turn our attention to the next chapter of Steelers football and everything that entails. One thing that it means is that some stock evaluations are going to start taking on more specific contexts as we get into the season, reflecting more immediate plusses and minus rather than trends over long periods. The nature of the evaluation, whether short-term or long-term, will be noted in the reasoning section below.
Player: NT Breiden Fehoko
Stock Value: Down
Reasoning: The odd man out in the defensive line room, Fehoko was the one out of the eight top defensive linemen in the room who was not retained on the 53-man roster. The Steelers ordinarily keep six at the position, yet they were satisfied enough with their depth this year that they opted for one more—with Fehoko ultimately being re-signed to the practice squad as an eighth after clearing waivers.
Being waived and signing to practice squads is nothing new for Breiden Fehoko, to be sure. A college free agent out of LSU, that has been his NFL journey up to this point in his career. He spent most of his three seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers on their practice squad, variously being elevated to promoted when needed.
The 2022 season was the first year in which he was on the 53-man roster for more weeks than he was off, dressing for nine games after doing so for eight a year earlier. He was elevated for two games during his rookie season in 2020.
That is to say, he is a practice squad veteran, and for all the Steelers’ talk about adding beef in the trenches and prioritizing physicality, it can’t be a shock that Fehoko missed the cut within a deep defensive line room, nor that they were comfortable with the odds of him clearing waivers.
In fact, they even have an extra Fehoko on the practice squad now after adding his cousin, Simi, a wide receiver, so he has company. But as with the past three years, don’t be surprised if he gets elevated at some point or even promoted.
At the moment, the team is sticking with Montravius Adams as its starting nose tackle. Given that his $2.5 million base salary will become fully guaranteed for the season after the opener, he’s probably not going to get released.
But they could make room with either Isaiahh Loudermilk or Armon Watts, one or both of whom will likely be inactive on gamedays. Cameron Heyward, Larry Ogunjobi, Adams, DeMarvin Leal, and rookie Keeanu Benton are going to be the linemen who dress consistently.
