Breaking Down Pittsburgh Steelers' Deepest, Thinnest Roster Spots
With 90 players on the Pittsburgh Steelers' present roster, it seems counterintuitive to assume any position lacks depth. But nearly half of them will not be wearing Black and Gold once it's time for the Steelers to trim the ranks down to 53 players. And it's not hard to tell, already, where the strengths and weaknesses lie on the roster.
Barring any major summertime breakout stars (or major summertime injuries), Pittsburgh's coaching and front office staffs already have some idea of what 2017's team is supposed to look like.
Thus, some positions currently look like they will lack depth for the Steelers' upcoming season, while others have so many contenders that determining who stays and who goes will be a struggle that will stretch through final roster cuts.
Here are the four positions that currently boast the most depth and the four that, frankly, do not.
Deepest: Wide Receiver
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The Steelers have a problem that most other teams in the NFL would find enviable: Too many wide receivers, and too few roster spots.
In 2016, the Steelers had seven receivers on the active roster at a given time: Antonio Brown, Eli Rogers, Sammie Coates, Darrius Heyward-Bey, Markus Wheaton, Cobi Hamilton and Demarcus Ayers.
Wheaton left this offseason, but the Steelers added Justin Hunter via free agency, JuJu Smith-Schuster via the draft and Martavis Bryant via reinstatement from suspension. The field is crowded, and not everyone can stay.
While this is good news for quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who will now have a well-curated group of wideouts to make his passes become touchdowns, it also means the summertime competition at the position will be fierce.
The good news, though, is that anyone cut will become highly coveted by the many receiver-needy teams around the NFL.
Thinnest: Tight End
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With the Steelers coming into the 2017 NFL draft so thin at tight end and the draft class boasting plenty of talent at the position, it was assumed that the team would try to snag one of the many that should have been available to them. But the draft board and the timing just didn't work out, and the Steelers avoided the position altogether in April.
Now it appears that Ladarius Green (who missed 10 games and the playoffs last year with an ankle that marred his early season and a concussion that resulted in being placed on injured reserve at the end) and Jesse James will be the primary players at the position this year, with David Johnson assuming his traditional blocking duties. Only Xavier Grimble seems like a threat to any of these three players.
While undrafted rookies like Scott Orndoff and Phazahn Odom could help expand the Steelers' group of tight ends on the 53-man roster, it certainly appears that the core group is Green, James, Johnson and Grimble.
That's more than enough for game day, to be sure, but given the limitations—Green's injuries, James' slow development into a reliable receiving option and Johnson being very much a blocker only, to name a few—it's surprising the Steelers did not try to cultivate more depth at tight end this offseason.
(UPDATE: The Steelers released Green on Thursday with failed physical designation, which means the team is even thinner at the position than they were heading into the 2017 offseason).
Deepest: Cornerback
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For a team that allowed the 16th-most passing yards allowed last year (though, it should be noted, one that also ranked fifth in passing touchdowns allowed), having a glut of cornerbacks on the present roster means that the Steelers can custom-craft their coverage in the coming months. But, nonetheless, cornerback is one of Pittsburgh's deepest positions and one that will need scaled back heading into Week 1.
Artie Burns, Ross Cockrell and rookie Cameron Sutton are not going anywhere. The question, though, is who has to leave.
Senquez Golson, the Steelers' second-round pick in the 2015 draft, has not played a snap, having dealt with injuries his first two seasons. William Gay is 32 years old and found himself benched a year ago. Coty Sensabaugh was signed during free agency, potentially pushing for a slot corner job for 2017, but even that is not guaranteed.
The Steelers will have to figure out which corners are starting material this year, who is worthwhile depth and who just doesn't have space on the ever-shrinking roster.
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Thinnest: Safety
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The Steelers opened the 2016 season with Mike Mitchell and Robert Golden as their starting pair of safeties. That evolved into rookie Sean Davis taking over Golden's strong safety position and joining Mitchell as part of the starting defense.
Mitchell and Davis appear to be the tandem again for 2017—with Golden serving as backup—but there is very little depth behind them. Only Jordan Dangerfield is, as of now, capable of taking the field in a regular-season capacity. And these four make up the mere six safeties on the Steelers' current roster.
While piling up the safeties is rarely a common strategy when building a 53-man roster is concerned, the Steelers need to more immediately concern themselves with the possibility one of these four could fall injured this summer or this season, leaving them woefully shorthanded.
It's between now and September that the Steelers need to be concerned about the number of safeties on the roster.
Deepest: Outside Linebacker
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While the Steelers aren't flush at outside linebacker in terms of sheer numbers, they are rife with talent, something that makes the position one of the team's deepest.
Though the Steelers moved on from 2013 first-round draft pick Jarvis Jones in free agency, the Steelers added T.J. Watt and Keion Adams in the draft and have retained the services of James Harrison and Arthur Moats.
These players, combined with 2015 Round 1 pick Bud Dupree and reliable backup Anthony Chickillo, mean that the Steelers are set up at outside linebacker in 2017 even if one of these players suffers an injury.
Depth at outside linebacker could become an issue in a year's time, but as for now the Steelers might not boast the most players at the position, the depth of current talent is an asset for 2017.
Thinnest: Inside Linebacker
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The Steelers' issues at inside linebacker are inverse of those they have on the outside: Too many players, but not enough quality.
Currently, Pittsburgh's inside backers include Vince Williams and Ryan Shazier (the starters for 2017), followed by Steven Johnson, Tyler Matakevich, L.J. Fort and a host of young, lesser-experienced players who are going to be spending their summers vying for the chance to be a depth player on the Steelers' defense.
With only two players who have clear starting chops and a slew of backup-types (barring anyone distinguishing themselves during training camp, something that is within the realm of possibility), the Steelers will not be able to afford any missed time by the Shazier-Williams duo.
Pittsburgh's inside linebacker situation may look robust on paper, but on the field it's a two-man world. The Steelers need to hope that their reserves can carry the workload if called upon.
Deepest: Quarterback
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With reports stating that the Steelers have signed rookie Bart Houston and released rookie Nick Schuessler, their quarterbacks room has significantly changed over the past month.
With the addition of Houston and the subtractions of Schuessler and Zach Mettenberger, the Steelers' four quarterbacks on the roster are now: starter Ben Roethlisberger, rookie draft pick Joshua Dobbs, longtime backup Landry Jones and Houston.
The Steelers aren't a team that commonly dresses three quarterbacks on game day, which means that beyond Roethlisberger, only Jones or Dobbs will have a helmet on Sundays (or Sunday nights, or Monday nights or Thursday nights, given Pittsburgh's five scheduled prime-time games this season).
This likely points to only those three having spots on the 53-man roster come September. But injuries happen, training camps are 90 men strong and all teams need to load up on arms for the summertime.
Houston could find himself with unexpected opportunities in the coming months—and potentially more competition—but the position will inevitably be trimmed of fat soon enough.
Neither Jones nor Dobbs should feel comfortable, either. The pair could have jobs with the Steelers in 2017, but one of the two may spend the season never suiting up.
Thinnest: Running Back
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The Steelers addressed a major need in the 2017 draft that had until then gone unmet by selecting Pitt running back James Conner in the third round, effectively ending the speculation around whom would serve as Le'Veon Bell's backup in 2017 and beyond.
But beyond Conner and Bell, the Steelers have only four additional running backs. And of those four, only two—Fitzgerald Toussaint and Knile Davis—likely have any hope of making the team's final roster. Even more likely, only one of those two do and ultimately work primarily in a punt or kick return capacity.
With Bell having suffered injuries and served suspensions in recent years, establishing quality depth at the running back position is something the Steelers need to focus on. While a healthy, active Bell is a do-it-all back—running, catching passes, blocking—the players on the depth chart behind him need to reflect a full complement of those skills.
Conner is a solid backup for Bell and can handle those myriad duties, but he is also a rookie, and the steep learning curve cannot be understated. That, and the low number of backs on the present roster thus makes running back a position that could stand more rounding out this summer.
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