Several Steelers Depot readers discuss the Black and Gold every Monday Night on the Clubhouse app. Last week, we predicted the Steelers’ initial 53-man offensive roster. There are already changes due to Pittsburgh’s most recent transactions. We made some adjustments to the offense and predicted the defensive roster this past Monday.
Here is the defense we produced:
Defensive Line
Cam Heyward
Keeanu Benton
Larry Ogunjobi
Montravius Adams
DeMarvin Leal
Logan Lee
Isaiahh Loudermilk
Dean Lowry
Practice Squad – Breiden Fehoko and Jonathan Marshall
Eight defensive linemen are a lot of beef to carry on the roster. But there is a mix of older veterans and younger, developing players. We discussed whether Leal would make the roster. And whether Fehoko needed to plug the middle. In the end, our consensus was that Leal had one more year to prove his worth.
Outside Linebackers/Edge
T.J. Watt
Alex Highsmith
Nick Herbig
Jeremiah Moon
Inside Linebackers
Patrick Queen
Elandon Roberts
Cole Holcomb
Payton Wilson
Practice Squad – Kyron Johnson, Jacoby Windmon, and Julius Welschof
We originally had nine linebackers on the roster but pared it back to eight to make room for an extra defensive back. The new kickoff rules had us thinking that one or two players with speed and sure tackling skills will make the squad that normally would not. Mark Robinson, a notable player, was left off the entire squad. We hope that he demonstrates a mastery of the defensive playbook during training camp but believe the Steelers will end his journey in Pittsburgh if he does not.
Cornerbacks
Joey Porter Jr.
Donte Jackson
Cam Sutton
Cory Trice Jr.
Darius Rush
Safeties
Minkah Fitzpatrick
DeShon Elliott
Damontae Kazee
Miles Killebrew
Ryan Watts
Practice Squad – Beanie Bishop Jr., Thomas Graham, and Jalen Elliott
We discussed whether a potential suspension affects Cam Sutton making the roster. Ultimately, we decided that he wouldn’t be on the current 91-man roster if the team was not willing to place him on the initial roster. Then, Pittsburgh would have to have a cornerback ready to activate. We also went back and forth between Darius Rush and Beanie Bishop Jr. making the roster. We went with Rush since he has similar speed and is nearly 20 pounds heavier with some special teams experience.
Changes to Offense
We reviewed Steelers Depot reader’s comments to our initial predictions on offense. We dropped running back Daijun Edwards to the practice squad to keep just three running backs. And we elevated MyCole Pruitt as a fourth tight end. We also added wide receiver Scotty Miller to the practice squad leaving just five wide receivers. We have 17 on the practice squad due to the international developmental player exemption for Julius Welschof.
Our initial 53-man roster has 24 offensive and 26 defensive players along with the three specialists. On the practice squad, we went with nine on offense and eight on defense.
Conclusion
There are likely going to be more transactions between now and the end of training camp. We’ll form a final prediction before the first preseason game. Did we miss any defensive player on the current 91-man roster we should have included? Let us know.
Your Song Selection
I always like to include a bit of music. We are getting closer to training camp when a lot of roster questions will be settled. Here is Now We’re Getting Somewhere performed by Crowded House.
