The Pittsburgh Steelers play the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday night on the road, in the team’s Wild Card playoff game. If you’re like me, you’re counting down the hours until the game begins. I attempt to project the Steelers’ inactives for every game of the 2024 season, and below is my best guess as to which players won’t be given helmets on Saturday night against the Ravens.
Game inactives are officially announced 90 minutes before kickoff, so make sure you check back at that time to see the names of the players for both teams who will be sitting out the game. The roster rules make this exercise even harder, as teams can elevate up to two players from their practice squads to their active roster for gamedays. Teams can also dress up to 48 players for games if eight offensive linemen are among them. The emergency quarterback rule is also still in place for the 2024 season.
QB Kyle Allen – The Steelers got backup QB Justin Fields back from his abdominal injury last Saturday night and he ultimately dressed for that regular season finale. With Fields back, Allen went back to being the team’s emergency third quarterback on the inactive list, a spot he has manned several times so far this season.
So far this season, Allen has been active for eight games as the team’s primary backup to the starter. He played in just one of those eight games and logged just two offensive snaps in total. The other nine games that Allen was not active for he was the team’s emergency third quarterback for.
While Allen will dress Saturday night against the Ravens as an inactive player, he can only enter the game should starting QB Russell Wilson and Fields both be ruled out of the contest due to injuries.
G Mason McCormick – The Steelers activated T Calvin Anderson from the Reserve/Injured list on Saturday and that’s probably a sign that McCormick won’t be able to play against the Ravens. McCormick suffered a left hand injury in Week 18 and he ended the week listed as questionable on the injury report.
The Steelers need to dress eight offensive linemen on Saturday so it’s as good bet that either McCormick or Anderson will be inactive. With McCormick ending the week as questionable with his hand injury, he’s my prediction.
DT Dean Lowry – Lowry was a healthy scratch in Week 17 and Week 18 and thus was one of the team’s five inactive players for those two contests. The Steelers got DL Larry Ogunjobi back from his groin injury in Week 17 and since then Lowry has been a heathy scratch.
All other defensive linemen on the Steelers 53-man roster are healthy heading into Saturday night against the Ravens and the result of that should be Lowry being inactive as a healthy scratch for a third consecutive game.
Lowry has been inactive for five games, including the first two of the regular season. He was inactive for the Week 13 home game in addition to Week 17 and Week 18 as well. He played in several games this season due to injuries to other defensive linemen, including DT Montravius Adams, who returned from his knee injury in Week 15.
OLB Preston Smith – The Steelers had Smith on the inactive list as a healthy scratch in Week 17 and that was the first time that’s happened since the team acquired him via trade earlier in the season. With the Steelers having their top three outside linebackers in T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, and Nick Herbig all healthy for Saturday night, I look for Smith to once again be a healthy scratch and thus one of seven players on the team’s pregame inactive list. There just might not be enough helmets to go around this week for Smith to get one.
TE MyCole Pruitt – The Steelers need seven inactives this week and I think there’s a chance that Pruitt winds up being one of them. The Steelers elevated WR Scotty Miller and WR Jamal Agnew from the practice squad on Saturday and that’s a decent indication both will dress and play against the Ravens.
Pruitt was on the injury report this past week with a knee issue. He only practiced fully one day this past week. On top of it all, Pruitt is not a great special teams player.
RB Cordarrelle Patterson – Will the Steelers really make Patterson a healthy scratch on Saturday night? I think it’s possible and especially with Agnew, who can return kickoffs, being elevated from the practice squad earlier in the afternoon. Patterson has already been inactive for four games this season due to injuries.
Remember, this team needs seven inactive players this week. Only one is really dealing with an injury in McCormick. Some choices need to be made this week. I think Patterson just might be on the list Saturday night. He hasn’t been overly impressive this season as a returner or as a running back.
WR Van Jefferson – Hey, why not make Jefferson inactive Saturday night? The Steelers elevated two wide receivers on Saturday in Miller and Agnew and there’s no reason for them to dress all of eight in that position group Saturday night.
Jefferson has been a big disappointment this season and he’s not a special teams asset to boot. It would make a lot of sense to sit him Saturday night.
The Saturday transactions that included Miller and Agnew really caught me by surprise. This makes predicting an inactive list of seven players tough and especially when I though it would only include five players in total. I think HC Mike Tomlin has some surprises in store when it comes to the 48 players he chooses to dress Saturday night.
The official list of inactives will be out in a few hours from now. Let’s see how close I come with my predictions.
