The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2024 offseason practices concluded in the middle of June. Next up is the team’s annual training camp, which gets underway in the latter part of July at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe. Ahead of Steelers training camp, we will preview the team’s offseason roster three players at a time as part of a multi-post series. This Steelers roster preview, which includes outlooks for every player, will be done alphabetically by last name to make it easy to follow. This series figures to exceed 90 players this year as the team can carry 91 players in total during the offseason due to the allowance of one international player designation.
The next set of three players we will preview ahead of the Steelers’ 2024 training camp are James Daniels, Daijun Edwards, and DeShon Elliott
OG James Daniels: Since signing with the Steelers in 2022 as an unrestricted free agent, Daniels has played in all but two games as the team’s starting right guard. A groin injury is what led to him missing two games in 2023. According to Pro Football Focus, Daniels allowed 24 total pressures in 2023 but was charged with giving up just one sack. As far as PFF grading goes, Daniels finished second on the team in 2023 behind fellow OG Isaac Seumalo when it comes to offensive linemen who played in more than three games.
Even so, Daniels’ PFF grade for the season was a mere 61.1. While Daniels has played in 86 regular-season games so far with 80 total starts to his credit, he’ll only be 27 years old in September.
Outlook: By the sound of things this offseason, Daniels won’t be asked to sign a contract extension this summer and if that’s the case, 2024 will be a contract year for him. Just how much that 2023 groin injury affected his play moving further into last season is anyone’s guess. The Steelers are expected to be a heavy run-based offense in 2024 and it’s imperative that Daniels improve his run blocking to help the cause.
There’s no reason to think that he won’t open the regular season as the team’s starting right guard once again with the hopes that he can have his best NFL year to date. He is scheduled to earn $8.25 million in 2024, and with that sizable base salary will come huge expectations in his third season in Pittsburgh. A solid 2024 season could result in a huge free agency payday for Daniels in March.
RB Daijun Edwards: This year, the Steelers originally only signed just five undrafted free agents and Edwards was one of them. In his four college seasons at Georgia, Edwards registered 2,083 rushing yards and 24 touchdowns on 390 total attempts. He also caught 37 passes for 343 yards. Additionally, Edwards returned two kickoffs for 37 yards at Georgia during the 2022 season. Nineteen of his rushing attempts during his college career resulted in gains of 20 yards or longer.
At the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine, Edwards measured in at 5095, 207 pounds. During his pro day, he ran his 40-yard-dash in 4.71-seconds and posted a short-shuttle time of 4.32 seconds to go along with a three-cone time of 7.20 seconds.
Outlook: Edwards has his work cut out for him during training camp as a rookie and especially the way the running back depth chart is stacked ahead of him as it includes Najee Harris, Jaylen Warren, and Cordarrelle Patterson. While he showed to be a shifty back in college, and one who was not afraid to do the dirty work in the backfield such as pass protection, Edwards will still have a tough time making the 53-man roster this summer.
Two years ago, Warren made the Steelers’ 53-man roster as an undrafted free agent out of the preseason, so Edwards at least has someone in the running back room with him who has beaten the odds recently. Even so, Edwards will more than likely be competing for a spot on the Steelers’ practice squad once training camp gets underway in Latrobe.
S DeShon Elliott: The Steelers signed Elliott to a two-year, $6 million free agent contract in March. He comes to the Steelers after playing the 2023 season with the Miami Dolphins. Selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the sixth-round of the 2018 NFL Draft out of Texas, Elliott has since played in 57 regular-season games with 50 starts.
For his NFL career, Elliott has registered three interceptions, 17 passes defensed, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, 3.5 sacks, and 287 total tackles in regular-season play. Twelve of his career tackles resulted in lost yardage. Last season with the Dolphins, Elliott logged 928 total defensive snaps in addition to 22 more on special teams.
Outlook: While Elliott is a versatile safety, he is expected to mostly play the strong position and thus quite a bit in the box as a member of the Steelers. Last season with the Dolphins, Elliott mostly played free safety and also logged over 100 snaps as a slot defender. Barring something unforeseen happening, Elliott is likely to be a starter in 2024 and thus be the other safety on the field along with Minkah Fitzpatrick.
The Steelers hope to allow Fitzpatrick to play deep more in 2024 and that is why Elliott is likely to play down low quite a bit when one-high schemes are utilized now that he’s in Pittsburgh. Elliott was strong as a run defender with the Dolphins in 2023 and hopefully that carries over to 2024 now that he’s with the Steelers. Elliott has not logged a considerable number of special teams playing time in the NFL so that’s also worth noting.
Previous Posts In This Series:
90 In 30: Steelers 2024 Training Camp Preview Series — Montravius Adams, Kyle Allen, Spencer Anderson
90 In 30: Steelers 2024 Training Camp Preview Series — Grayland Arnold, Calvin Austin III, Anthony Averett
90 In 30: Steelers 2024 Training Camp Preview Series — Kalon Barnes, Tyler Beach, Keeanu Benton
90 In 30: Steelers 2024 Training Camp Preview Series — Beanie Bishop Jr., Chris Boswell, Marquez Callaway
90 In 30: Steelers 2024 Training Camp Preview Series — Jack Colletto, Dylan Cook, Jacob Copeland
