The Pittsburgh Steelers have made multiple roster moves ahead of Saturday’s Wild Card game against the Baltimore Ravens. Per the team, OL Calvin Anderson has been activated from injured reserve to the team’s 53-man roster ahead of Saturday’s playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens, bolstering the team’s depth up front. The team also elevated WR/RET Jamal Agnew from the practice squad and signed and elevated WR Scotty Miller to and from the practice squad to the Active/Inactive roster, allowing him to dress tonight.
Practice squad S Ayo Oyelola was released to make room for Miller.
Anderson had previously spent time on injured reserve with a groin injury but returned to practice Tuesday and worked in full throughout the week.
Anderson’s addition is a sign rookie OG Mason McCormick could miss after breaking his left hand in Week 18’s finale against the Cincinnati Bengals. Though primarily a tackle, Anderson will allow the Steelers to dress eight offensive linemen and have a 48-man gameday roster.
First signed to the team in late September, Anderson provided offensive line depth after Pittsburgh’s front five was rocked by injuries throughout the first several weeks. A backup all year, Anderson’s appeared in four games, logging 11 offensive snaps. He logged nine snaps in a Week 6 win over the Las Vegas Raiders while picking up a snap against the New York Giants two weeks later, allowing a third down sack.
Undrafted out of Texas in 2019, Anderson’s spent most of his career with the Denver Broncos. From 2020-2022, he started 12 games for them before landing with the New England Patriots in 2023. There, he battled freak illness and injury, contracting malaria before training camp and a heart injury later in the year, limiting him to just five games and two starts.
The Steelers placed Anderson on injured reserve in mid-December after suffering a groin injury during practice. They opened his window to return Tuesday and though he ended the week questionable, the team deemed him healthy enough to come off injured reserve for the start of the playoffs.
WR Roman Wilson, DL Logan Lee, and LB Cole Holcomb were ruled out and not activated this weekend. All three finished the week practicing in full.
Agnew is an exciting and accomplished return man. A one-time Pro Bowler and All-Pro, he has four career punt return scores and a pair on kicks while seeing more time as a receiver after his career. He could used on the return team tonight as a spark to boost the team’s field position. WR and regular punt returner Calvin Austin III also had fumble/turnover in Week 18’s loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Pittsburgh finished the regular season 32nd in kick return average at 23-yards per runback. Their long of 35-yards tied the Minnesota Vikings for shortest of any team.
Miller was waived earlier this week but has yo-yo’d around. We’ll see if he’s active and gets a helmet tonight. The fact he’s being elevated suggests he will dress. He’s caught five passes this year, most often playing in run-heavy, 13 personnel looks.
Pittsburgh and Baltimore kicks off at 8 PM/EST Saturday night.
