The Pittsburgh Steelers set their initial 53-man roster Tuesday afternoon. But that doesn’t mean their squad is done taking shape. Like the rest of the NFL, Pittsburgh is exploring outside options to potentially bring onto their team, creating post cutdown roster shuffling.
Being my own one-man band pro scouting department, I took a look at the list of over 1,000 players cut yesterday to see which names make the most sense and could interest the Steelers. I primarily kept it from the viewpoint of three positions of need: wide receiver, center, and cornerback. Here’s a baker’s dozen names who make sense.
Wide Receiver
Miles Boykin
The most logical name on this entire list is Boykin. Reports indicated he’d make the New York Giants roster but he, along with fellow former Steelers WR Allen Robinson II, was released yesterday. New York apparently wants him back on the practice squad but if I’m Pittsburgh, he’s my first phone call to offer a 53-man roster (and 53-man roster salary) to.
Pittsburgh needs good gunners and coverage units to cover Cameron Johnston’s long punts, a player who admittedly gets average to below hang time. Preseason results were bad and the current assumed pair of gunners in CBs Darius Rush and Beanie Bishop don’t inspire much confidence. Boykin would be an immediate starter and massive upgrade who would get a weekly hat as the No. 5 wideout.
Ben Skowronek
If Pittsburgh wants a similar player to Boykin, Skowronek is an option. With size, versatility, and special teams value, Skowronek played over 300 snaps on special teams last season. In 2022, he was more possession receiver but caught 39 passes for the Los Angeles Rams. He spent 2024 with the Houston Texans but was squeezed out in a deep room.
The biggest problem is Skowronek doesn’t have gunner experience. Last year, he was used as a personal protector, a spot occupied by Miles Killebrew in Pittsburgh. That’s not offering the exact help Pittsburgh needs, though he’d still find a home as a multi-phase special teamer who can wear lots of hats at the back of the gameday 48-man roster.
Terrace Marshall
Putting special teams aside, Marshall offers actual wide receiver value. A 2nd round pick of the Carolina Panthers in 2021, Marshall fell out of favor with the Panthers new coaching staff. His play and production regressed last year despite Carolina having one of the NFL’s worst receiving rooms, catching just 19 passes for 139 yards and zero scores in nine games.
But Marshall is only 24 with size. He had an okay preseason, catching five passes for 53 yards and one touchdown. It’s not moving the need much and he certainly wouldn’t be a No. 2 ahead of Van Jefferson but a potential No. 3 with upside. Marshall has mostly been an outside receiver but has some slot experience, too.
Center
Sam Mustipher
Mustipher brings some familiarity after spending 2023 with the Baltimore Ravens, starting two games while playing 32 snaps in the regular season finale against the Steelers. He’s started 42 career games but is still young at 28.
Ryan McCollum sits as Zach Frazier’s backup and his time in the system is important. But if you wanted an upgrade and someone with more experience, Mustipher makes sense. He has over 2,500 career NFL snaps at center, a full-time starter for the Chicago Bears in 2021 and 2022. Ideally, he’s a backup as he was last season. Mustipher was cut by the Broncos yesterday but received high marks for his run blocking in the preseason.
Will Clapp
Clapp has more size with some guard/center flexibility, playing guard in the preseason this year with the Buffalo Bills. He started 11 games for the Los Angeles Chargers last season, playing 699 snaps in the middle. He has a similar frame to Mason McCormick but the experience to boot.
The biggest problem could be health. He was recently placed into concussion protocol, putting his health and readiness into question for Week 1. Perhaps he could try to sneak onto the Steelers practice squad.
Matt Hennessey
Hennessey is a name we suggested in the offseason with ties to Arthur Smith from their Atlanta Falcons days. He has versatility, playing guard this preseason with the Philadelphia Eagles, and I was a fan of his tape dating back to his Temple days. He hasn’t played much lately but could be a good scheme fit as a backup.
Cornerback
Zech McPhearson
Long list of names here because it feels like Pittsburgh needs a vet added to the room. I mentioned McPhearson in my “special teams/gunners” list a few days ago and he was, as expected, waived by the Philadelphia Eagles. An ace gunner, he recovered from a 2023 Achilles tear to play in the preseason. He’s not an ideal No. 3 corner, probably still keeping Cory Trice Jr. in that role, but he could be a No. 4/No. 5 in a James Pierre type of role.
Duke Shelley
Shelley has inside/outside experience though his size (5085, 173 pounds) profiles him more for the slot. His most productive season came in 2022, playing nearly 400 defensive snaps with the Minnesota Vikings, breaking up eight passes and intercepting one.
Last year, he spent most of his time playing special teams with the Los Angeles Rams before getting released by the Minnesota Vikings at cutdowns. There’s a lot of versatility here for Pittsburgh to work with.
Nahshon Wright
Looking for a bigger outside corner and experience in the room, Wright fits that bill. He only has 269 career defensive snaps. But that’s a whole lot more than Cory Trice Jr. or Darius Rush. He has the build the Steelers like in that room at 6042 with nearly 33-inch arms. Wright also brings some gunner work though his experience is fairly limited (20 snaps in 2023, three during the preseason).
Rock Ya-Sin
A name I’ve mentioned a couple times over the years, Ya-Sin seemed on the Steelers’ radar during the 2019 until they traded up for Devin Bush. A Temple tough player, Ya-Sin can tackle and play inside/outside, though most of his recent snaps have come on the outside.
He’s still just 28 but appeared in 66 games with 39 starts. Ya-Sin spent last season in Baltimore acting mostly as a reserve but still logging 279 defensive snaps for the Ravens. His lone start of the year came against Baltimore in the regular season finale, making four tackles. He’d be a highly-experienced player to backup Joey Porter Jr. and Donte Jackson.
Nik Needham
If the Steelers wanted to upgrade their run down option over Beanie Bishop Jr., Needham makes a lot of sense. Playing time has been harder to come by in recent years but he logged over 600 snaps in 2021 and nearly 300 in 2022.
Spending the summer in Miami, Needham primarily played in the slot and earned earned top marks as a tackler and had a good training camp overall. He also saw snaps at safety, creating flexibility in sub-packages when the Steelers want to rotate Minkah Fitzpatrick down.
Kemon Hall
A very under-the-radar name, Hall sounds like a rookie but has NFL experience. He was a core special teamer in 2021 with the Los Angeles Chargers, logging 301 snaps. But he hardly played in 2022 and didn’t log a single snap last season. But Hall was one of this preseason’s most successful slot corners as a member of the Dallas Cowboys, allowing a 45 percent completion rate and picking off a pass.
Hall probably makes more sense on the practice squad than replacing someone on the 53 but he was a name I was unfamiliar with until doing some more research.
Ugo Amadi
A name Dave Bryan suggested, Pittsburgh brought Amadi in for a 2019 pre-draft visit coming out of Oregon. He’s bounced around since being drafted by Seattle but settled in with New Orleans in 2017, appearing in all 17 games. He saw 132 special teams snaps and another 82 on defense.
He didn’t play much this preseason, just the finale, but has slot/safety versatility and has a bit of a gunner background, too. A nice chess piece at the end of the Steelers’ roster.
Practice Squad Offensive Tackles
Just wanted to list a couple of practice squad OT options because I think the team should/needs to add here from the outside. Even knowing finding outside tackle help on the waiver wire is tough to do. These names consist of a mix of veterans and younger players.
Richard Gouraige/Buffalo Bills
David Sharpe/Houston Texans
Steven Jones/Jacksonville Jaguars (more of a guard but I liked his tape out of Oregon)
Lucas Niang/Kansas City Chiefs
Dalton Wagner/Las Vegas Raiders
Jamarco Jones/Detroit Lions
Jaryd Jones-Smith/Atlanta Falcons
AJ Arcuri/Los Angeles Rams
Max Scharping/Philadelphia Eagles
