The Pittsburgh Steelers host the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday as their 2025 home game schedule gets underway and if you’re like me, you’re counting down the hours until the 1 PM/EST contest begins. As usual, I will attempt to project the Steelers’ inactives for every game of the 2025 season and below is my best guess as to which players won’t be given helmets against the Seahawks on Sunday.
Game inactives are announced 90 minutes before kickoff, so make sure you check back then to see the players for both teams who will be sitting the game out. Roster rules make this exercise even harder as teams can elevate up to two players from their practice squad to their active roster for gamedays. Also, teams can dress up to 48 players for games if eight offensive linemen are among them. The emergency quarterback rule remains in place for the 2025 season.
CB Joey Porter Jr. – The Steelers won’t have Porter for the team’s Sunday home game against the Seahawks due to a hamstring injury that he sustained during the Week 1 contest. Porter was unable to finish the Week 1 game due to hamstring tightness, and he ultimately failed to practice this past week as well. This will be the second regular season game of his career that Porter has missed. Last season, Porter, the team’s second round selection in the 2024 NFL Draft out of Penn State, missed one game due to a knee injury. The Steelers signed CB James Pierre off the team’s practice squad earlier in the week and he will be active on Sunday in place of Porter. The Steelers also elevated ILB Jon Rhattigan from the team’s practice squad on Saturday to help out on special teams in Week 2.
DT Derrick Harmon – A knee injury that Harmon sustained during the Steelers’ preseason finale will once again prevent him from making his NFL debut in Week 2 Harmon, who was the Steelers’ first-round draft pick this year out of Oregon, failed to practice once again this past week, and he was officially ruled out for Sunday on the team’s Friday injury report. With Harmon sidelined once again, second-year defensive lineman Logan Lee is likely to dress in his place. Lee, however, only played one defensive snap in Week 1 and that game marked his NFL regular season debut as well. It’s too early to tell if the Steelers will have Harmon back for the team’s Week 3 road game.
S DeShon Elliott – Like Porter, Elliott failed to finish the team’s Week 1 game due to an injury sustained in the first half of the contest. Elliott, who missed two games in 2024 due to a hamstring injury, sustained a knee injury during the Steelers Week 1 road game. He never returned to last week’s game after being sidelined with his injury and he also failed to practice this week as well. The Steelers officially ruled Elliott out for the Sunday home game against the Seahawks on the team’s Friday injury report. Elliott is expected to miss at least two games due to his knee injury. The hope is that he might be able to return to action in Week 4 for the team’s game in Dublin, Ireland.
G/T Andrus Peat – As expected, Peat was one of the Steelers six inactive players for the team’s regular season opener last Sunday. A first-round draft pick of the New Orleans Saints in 2015, Peat was signed by the Steelers to a one-year contract during training camp. The Steelers chose to dress OT Calvin Anderson over Peat last Sunday and we should see a repeat of that this Sunday when the team hosts the Seahawks for their Week 2 contest. The Steelers dressed offensive linemen for Week 2 are once again expected to be Broderick Jones, Troy Fautanu, Isaac Seumalo, Mason McCormick, Zach Frazier, Spencer Anderson, Ryan McCollum, and Calvin Anderson.
G/C Max Scharping – As was the case in Week 1 with Peat, Scharping was also an inactive player last Sunday and that wasn’t at all surprising. Scharping, like Peat, is a backup offensive lineman entering the 2025 regular season and one that will likely be inactive numerous times throughout the year, barring any injuries to interior offensive linemen. The Steelers should only dress eight offensive linemen on Sunday against the Seahawks and if that is indeed the case once again, expect Scharping and Peat to both be on the inactive list when it is ultimately announced 90 minutes prior to the game’s kickoff at 1:00 p.m. ET.
DT Esezi Otomewo – The Steelers made Otomewo a healthy scratch last Sunday as the team decided to dress Lee over him. With the Steelers once again needing six inactive players for Sunday’s home game against the Seahawks, it’s reasonable to expect that Otomewo will once again be included on that list as a healthy scratch. Otomewo, who was signed to a one-year contract this past offseason, has appeared in just nine total regular season games so far during his NFL career, which dates back to the 2022 season. To date, Otomewo has played all of 179 total defensive snaps so far in the NFL with 90 of those coming during the 2025 regular season. It’s easy to imagine Otomewo being on the inactive list quite a bit in 2025 and possibly even waived from the 53-man roster once Harmon returns from his knee injury.
