The Pittsburgh Steelers will play the Los Angeles Rams on the road on Sunday afternoon, and it is their sixth 2023 regular-season game. 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 2023 season. Below is my best guess as to which players won’t be given helmets against the Rams on Sunday at SoFi Stadium.
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 newer roster rules make this exercise even harder as teams can elevate up to two players from their practice squads to their active roster for gamedays. Teams also can dress up to 48 players for games if eight offensive linemen are dressed. The emergency quarterback rule is also back in place for the 2023 season.
QB Mason Rudolph – (Emergency 3rd) – Nothing new here yet again. This will be another week for Rudolph as the Steelers’ third-string quarterback and that should once again result in him being inactive and designated as the emergency option just as was the case in the first five games. Rudolph will dress and warm up prior to the Sunday afternoon game against the Rams but he won’t play unless something happens to the two quarterbacks ahead of him on the depth chart, Kenny Pickett, and Mitch Trubisky. We’ll likely continue to see this happen with Rudolph every week barring something happening to Pickett or Trubisky. The NFL brought back the emergency inactive quarterback rule this past offseason.
T Dylan Cook – In Week Five, Cook was active for the first time this season and mainly due to T Dan Moore Jr. and G James Daniels both missing that contest with injuries. Cook did not see action in that game, however. This week, the Steelers are expected to have both Moore and Daniels back for the team’s Sunday road game against the Rams as both made it through practice this week. Assuming both are indeed healthy enough to play on Sunday, look for Cook to return to the inactive list once again. The Steelers will need to dress at least eight offensive linemen on Sunday and that will likely leave Cook as the odd player out.
DT Breiden Fehoko – Like Cook in Week Five, Fehoko was also active for the first time this season for that contest. Even so, and again just like Cook, the defensive tackle failed to see any action in that game. Fehoko was active in Week Five due to DE DeMarvin Leal having to miss that game with a concussion. Leal, however, is expected to return to action on Sunday against the Rams and if indeed that’s the case, look for Fehoko to be one of the team’s inactive players.
CB Darius Rush – The Steelers signed Rush to their 53-man roster off the Kansas City Chiefs practice squad this past week. Even so, the rookie out of South Carolina isn’t likely up to speed enough to warrant him getting a helmet on Sunday against the Rams. The Steelers should dress 10 total defensive backs on Sunday just the same. There’s a good chance that Rush will be inactive quite a bit moving forward, especially if the Steelers stay healthy at the cornerback position.
