Pittsburgh Steelers: Bryant McFadden and the 5 Toughest Roster Cuts

The Pittsburgh Steelers preseason is in, and right now, the Pittsburgh Steelers' coaches and administrative personnel are trying to figure out the best 53 man roster to carry into the regular season.

As always, there will be some difficult cuts for this team—as it is for any franchise—but the NFL is a cutthroat league and the Steelers won't hesitate to make the tough decisions.

Here are the biggest potential difficulties in finally forming the Steelers' roster for the 2011 regular season.

Steve McLendon/Chris Hoke

Steve McLendon has had a very good preseason and has shown flashes of playmaking from a position that rarely makes flash plays.

However, it will be difficult for the Steelers to incorporate McLendon, as they are likely to only keep six defensive linemen. This means that McLendon will be in direct competition with Chris Hoke for his roster spot.

Hoke is a proven and reliable backup that has more than impressed on the field over the years. He offers nothing as far as the future, so the Steelers will need to weigh if McLendon can replicate his performances for the coming season if he is to lose his spot.

Bryant McFadden/Cortez Allen

Bryant McFadden hasn't gotten on the field at all during the preseason, and his injury history doesn't bode well for his prospects of staying healthy this season.

Other corners such as Keenan Lewis and Crezdon Butler have stepped up and almost assured themselves of roster spots, while William Gay has at least been healthy and on the field. This means that it may come down to between McFadden as a proven veteran and Cortez Allen, who is a developmental prospect.

I'd expect the team to retain McFadden and hope for Allen to fall to the practice squad.

Jeremy Kapinos

In my mind, the battle at punter has already been won by Daniel Sepulveda, but Jeremy Kapinos couldn't have done much more to make his case for a roster spot.

Kapinos will likely land on another roster pretty quickly, because no matter how talented he is, they couldn't keep two punters. It will still be tough to let him go because of Sepulveda's injury history, but you can't let him go based on that.

Mortty Ivy

Ivy, to an extent, has outplayed both Jason Worilds and Chris Carter in the preseason, but the likelihood is he won't make the roster in favor of those two.

It's always difficult to let go of the guy that looks to be more motivated and focused, but Worilds and Carter will get by this year based on their potential. However, next season—especially for Worilds—neither player will be able to get by with their average showings from this year.

Da'Mon Cromartie-Smith

Da'Mon Cromartie-Smith showed a lot of promise last season, and many were hoping that he would overtake Will Allen as a backup safety for the coming year.

However, this preseason wasn't as impact full as the last was when he really needed it to be. Allen is proven on special teams and in his role as a veteran, but Cromartie-Smith was being looked at to push him out of his roster spot. Allen simply outperformed Cromartie-Smith, so the Steelers will be hoping to keep him on the practice squad for another season.