The Steelers are now back at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, facing down a long regular season that looks a lot more promising given how things have gone leading up to it. Finishing just above .500 last year, they anticipate being able to compete with any team in the league this season with second-year QB Kenny Pickett leading the way.
They’ve done a great deal to address what they identified as their shortcomings during the offseason, which included addressing the offensive and defensive lines as well as the secondary and the inside linebacker room, which is nearly entirely different from last year. The results have been positive so far.
Even well into the regular season and beyond, there are going to be plenty of questions that need answered. When will the core rookies get to play, or even start? Is the depth sufficient where they upgraded? Can they stand toe-to-toe with the Bengals and the other top teams in the league? We’ll try to frame the conversation in relevant ways as long as you stick with us throughout the season, as we have for many years.
Question: Which ‘bubble’ player are you convinced the Steelers will keep?
Being a passionate fan means having opinions—or at least that always seems to be the case. We have the guys we know we think the team should keep. We definitely have the guys we know the team should cut. Many of us even seem to think we know what the team will do.
So this is your time. We all have our 53-man roster predictions. I posted my final prediction just yesterday, which I think is reasonable of course, and many agreed. There were differences of opinion. And truth be told, there are many reasonable directions the team can go with the roster.
Realistically, there are probably about 58-60 players I would not be surprised to make the roster. Just of those that I did not list in my final prediction, I could see Isaiahh Loudermilk or Armon Watts, for example, Kenny Robinson or Tre Norwood, Kendrick Green or Le’Raven Clark, or Nick Kwiatkoski, for that matter.
Almost as easily, I would not be shocked if Zach Gentry were not to make the team, or Gunner Olszewski, or Montravius Adams, or Elijah Riley, or Tanner Muse. All of these players and perhaps a handful of others could all be regarded as being on the roster fringe. Many of them will make it.
You don’t have to use the lists of names above or even agree which are on the fringe and which are not, but which player do you consider to be on the roster bubble whom you are convinced the Steelers will carry on the 53-man roster?
I guess anybody who considers RB Anthony McFarland Jr. to be on the bubble has an easy answer, because I think a lot of people became convinced by the end of the Steelers’ last game that he would make the team. If you do go with that, I would encourage you to offer a second answer as well.
