The Pittsburgh Steelers are heading into the sixteenth week of the 2024 regular season after a tough loss in Philadelphia. With fourteen inactive lists down for the season, it should now be slightly easier to predict, but injuries still are a large driving force. For Week 16, the Steelers have two players ruled out, one doubtful, and two others being listed as questionable.

The rules in the 2024 season when it comes to the players active on game day have been carried over from the last four seasons with one additional caveat introduced last year. As long as a team has eight offensive linemen who will be dressing for the game, they could have 48 players on their active roster rather than the 46 in past years. If the Steelers elevate any players from their practice squad, their inactive list would increase by the same number of players. The one change since last season is one quarterback on the inactive list can be designated as the “third quarterback” and will be in uniform, but they can only enter if the other two quarterbacks are injured. The player must be on the 53-man roster and will be designated when the inactive list is released 90 minutes prior to kickoff.

Playing on Saturday, the Steelers have until 4 PM Friday to make any roster moves or practice squad elevations.

Game Status

OUT:

WR George Pickens (hamstring)
QB Justin Fields (abdominal)

DOUBTFUL:

S DeShon Elliott (hamstring)

QUESTIONABLE:

DT Larry Ogunjobi (groin)
CB Donte Jackson (back)

UPDATE: DeShon Elliot has been downgraded to OUT

#Steelers S DeShon Elliott (hamstring) has been downgraded to OUT for Saturday's game in BAL.

— Burt Lauten (@SteelersPRBurt) December 20, 2024

Here are the possibilities to end up inactive for the Steelers against the Raves on Saturday:

Definitely:

WR George Pickens– It’s three games in a row for Pickens being out. The big question is how many more will there be.

QB Justin Fields– Missing Fields will only affect a potential handful of plays assuming Russell Wilson remains healthy. This keeps Kyle Allen off the list this week.

Most Likely:

S DeShon Elliott– Unless there’s a change in status later today in the right direction, a doubtful designation has generally meant “out” for the Steelers.

Possibly:

DT Larry Ogunjobi– He told the media he was going to play, so we’ll see when the inactive list comes out.

CB Donte Jackson– Having a back issue in-game for the last two games, if the Steelers do have Jackson active they probably shouldn’t count on him finishing the game.

CB Cory Trice– He’s been inactive since he’s returned from IR, but with injuries in the secondary Trice should have a helmet this week. It will mainly come down to Jackson’s availability.

DL Dean Lowry– When the Steelers needed to have another defensive lineman inactive, Lowry has been the choice despite being the starter last week in place of Ogunjobi.

DL Montravius Adams– Because he had been injured, the Steelers hadn’t had to choose between Adams and Lowry recently. Therefore the potential it could be Adam’s left out is there.

Unlikely:

LB Jeremiah Moon– Having five outside linebackers available the last several weeks, this week would not be the right one to do it with T.J. Watt banged up.

Projected Inactive List:

1. Justin Fields
2. George Pickens
3. DeShon Elliott
4. Donte Jackson
5. Dean Lowry

It’s possible the Steelers inactive list could be all five players that have an injury status. Additionally, the Steelers could handle it being these five players without having to add anyone from the practice squad. But if they do add someone, it will be very telling.

I’m going that Larry Ogunjobi plays this week. He was limited all week and practice without days off so I think he’s going to be available. I’m going with Dean Lowry not getting a helmet because I don’t know where else to go.

As for Donte Jackson, I’m putting him inactive for as much of a reason that I don’t know who else to put there in his place. I think it would be foolish to not have Cory Trice active in this game with Jackson having a tendency of not finishing games recently. I admitted it’s a cop out, but simply choosing Jackson makes it easier than figuring out who else is a healthy scratch.

As always, feel free to list your projected inactives in the comments below.