In case you didn’t believe me when I told you earlier this week that the 53-man roster was fluid then let me share this… The Pittsburgh Steelers have two punters on their roster. Yep… Two. I’ll get to that shortly but as for the rest of the roster there were a couple of surprises at least in the early going. Here are some immediate thoughts after this afternoon’s release.
Surprises
-Eight Linebackers? I was off by one in my prediction. I thought for sure they’d keep either Tanner Muse or Nick Kwiatkowski and they kept neither. They’ll instead roll with just Elandon Roberts, Cole Holcomb, Kwon Alexander and Mark Robinson.
-Just two tight ends? Please don’t tell me Connor Heyward is a third tight end. He may line up there occasionally but there is no way he can take on defensive ends or outside backers as a blocker. Heyward will be much more effective in his ‘hybrid’ role. I still think it’s possible they bring back Zach Gentry as the roster remains uncertain in the days ahead.
-They kept Gunner. Six receivers it is as Mike Tomlin decided to keep veteran receiver and kick returner Gunner Olszewski. If you take away his fumbled return against New England, Olszewski has been fine. He struggles as a blocker and is not going to pick up too many yards on jet sweeps but Tomlin loves his veterans.
-No Norwood? This probably shouldn’t be a surprise. After all, Norwood was incredibly quiet during the preseason as other guys seemed to be just a bit better. He could always go on the Practice Squad and return later. After two nice seasons, his time in Pittsburgh could be over.
-What the Hell? OK before you lose your mind, yes both Pressley Harvin III and Braden Mann made the roster. It would seem likely that the Steelers are going to try and find a way to get Mann eventually to the Practice Squad. There could also be a trade coming or perhaps Harvin could be dealing with an injury that’s day to day.
As We Thought
-10 defensive backs. Both Chandon Sullivan and Elijah Riley made it. Who gets the reps at nickel corner will be interesting. I didn’t think James Pierre had a very good preseason but he makes it as well mostly due to Special Teams.
-7 on DL. Breiden Fehoko was the odd man out and that was a little outside our thinking. I had him in and Armon Watts out but the Steelers saw it the other way. This entire unit in my opinion will rest on the health of Larry Ogunjobi. If he can be available and effective then it lets Teryl Austin build some unique rotations.
In Closing
I’m no stranger to beating a dead horse and that’s what I’m doing here. This current iteration of the Steelers’ roster is going to change over the coming days. How? That’s yet to be determined but I will stick to my guns in that I believe an experienced back up center and an upgrade at slot corner are coming.
