With a knee injury knocking LB Cole Holcomb out for the season, and S Minkah Fitzpatrick out for Sunday’s matchup against the Green Bay Packers the Pittsburgh Steelers elevated two players, a linebacker and a safety. As expected, the team elevated LB Tariq Carpenter, who previously spent time with Green Bay, as well as S Trenton Thompson, who joined Pittsburgh in training camp and has spent the 2023 season on the practice squad so far. The moves were announced by the team today.
Thompson came over to Pittsburgh during camp after a stint with the New York Giants with Pittsburgh dealing with injury issues at safety, as well as Minkah Fitzpatrick being away from the team at the start of camp. He had an interception in the team’s first preseason game, a win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, when he picked off QB Kyle Trask. An undrafted free agent out of San Diego State, Thompson played in one game for the New York Giants, which came in Week 12 last year against the Dallas Cowboys. He’ll provide depth at safety with Fitzpatrick sidelined due to a groin issue.
Carpenter is a converted safety who played in 14 games with the Packers last season, playing 122 special teams snaps and 16 defensive snaps. He weighed in at 6027, 230 pounds at Georgia Tech’s Pro Day, and his athleticism stood out with 39-inch vertical, and 11’4″ broad jump. That led to Green Bay drafting him in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft, and he registered eight tackles last season. He also has a great story that’s well worth the time to check out.
Alexander and Roberts are going to start at linebacker, but it will be interesting to see the type of role that Carpenter has. The Steelers also have Mark Robinson, who earned praise from numerous people including defensive coordinator Teryl Austin this week. But with the team bringing up Carpenter, it’s clear that they want some more depth at the position, especially a special teams capable guy in Carpenter.
Thompson will likely get work on special teams but he’ll also be good depth to have behind Keanu Neal, Elijah Riley and Damontae Kazee at safety. He was impressive in the preseason and earned a role on the practice squad, and now he’ll have a chance to prove he’s ready to contribute at the NFL level.
Both Thompson and Carpenter will revert back to the practice squad after Sunday. The Steelers are allowed to elevate Carpenter and Thompson two more times after this elevation, as players can only be elevated three times in a season before they need to be signed off the practice squad.
