According to the NFL Jersey Numbers Twitter account, five players the Pittsburgh Steelers brought in this offseason have been assigned new jersey numbers. QB Justin Fields will don No. 2 after wearing No. 1 with the Chicago Bears, QB Kyle Allen will wear No. 4, P Cameron Johnston will wear No. 5, WR Van Jefferson will wear No. 11, and S DeShon Elliott will wear No. 25.
Fields will wear the No. 2 last worn by Mason Rudolph, who departed this offseason and signed a contract with the Tennessee Titans. QB Trace McSorley was the last player to wear the No. 4 that Allen is going to wear, while S Henry Black was the last player assigned Johnston’s No. 5. Allen Robinson wore No. 11 for the Steelers last season, which is now going to Jefferson, who wore No. 12 with the Los Angeles Rams and No. 15 with the Atlanta Falcons last season.
Elliott’s number was last worn by Eric Rowe, meaning all the numbers were worn by players who were on the Steelers roster or practice squad at some point last season. Fields is the biggest name of the group, and he won’t be wearing the No. 1 he wore in Chicago. George Pickens wanted to wear No. 1 for the Steelers, the number he had in college, but wasn’t allowed to do so.
The sports memorabilia and merchandise website Fanatics is also selling Fields jerseys with his number as 2, and Fields also hinted in an Instagram post he would be wearing No. 2
It was previously reported that Russell Wilson will continue to don the No. 3, while Patrick Queen will wear No. 6 for the Steelers, which he also revealed at his press conference.
The numbers aren’t official and haven’t been updated on the team site, but the numbers make sense. Johnston wore No. 11 with the Texans but will switch to No. 5 in Pittsburgh, with Jefferson getting 11. While all five are new faces for the Steelers, the numbers will not be anything new. Black and McSorely didn’t log a snap for the Steelers last season, so they’ll at least be new numbers to be seen on the field for Elliott and potentially Allen. As it stands now, Allen is the team’s QB3 and isn’t expected to see the field much beyond the preseason.
It’s an exciting time in Pittsburgh, with the quarterback room turnover, adding talented defensive pieces in Queen and Elliott, and improving their punter situation with Johnston. While we’re still pretty far off from the start of the season, offseason workouts begin on April 15, and the reported jersey numbers make it feel that much closer to football season once again.
