The Pittsburgh Steelers are heading into the final week of the 2024 regular season after dropping three-straight games. With sixteen inactive lists down for the season, one would think it would be much easier to predict who would not get a helmet. But with the Steelers having n players ruled out, it’s not that easy.

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 Roman Wilson (hamstring)*
LB Cole Holcomb (knee)**
DT Logan Lee (calf)*

*In designated 21-day window to return from Reserved/Injured List
**In designated 21-day window to return from Reserved/PUP List

QUESTIONABLE:

CB Donte Jackson (back)

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

Definitely:

None– With no players on the 53 ruled out, it’s all speculation for Week 18

Most Likely:

QB Kyle Allen– Justin Fields is back, so Kyle Allen will still dress and not enter the game just like the last couple weeks but with a different designation.

WR Scotty Miller– With one wide receiver down each of the last several games, Miller has gotten a helmet. Now that they are all back and how useful Ben Skowronek is on special teams, Miller has to be the guy who’s left out.

DT Dean Lowry– He started games in place of Larry Ogunjobi when he was injured, but Dean Lowry was inactive last week when all the defensive lineman were healthy so it’s likely he will be again.

Possibly:

CB Donte Jackson– He’s questionable for the game with his back injury, so the Steelers might take it easy with Jackson since he had several other games where he could not finish due to the same injury.

CB Cory Trice– If Jackson does go, somebody’s going to miss a helmet and I’m not sure the Steelers are ready to have it be one of the other players who contributes on special teams. But I think it would be a mistake if Trice is inactive.

LB Preston Smith– Last week Smith was inactive in favor of Jeremiah Moon ss the fourth option because of his special teams play. Will lack of special teams keep Smith out again this week?

LB Jeremiah Moon– Part of the reason I think Moon was inactive last week was because Skowronek was not there to play special teams. Does that affect the decision against the Bengals?

Unlikely:

Who knows– The Steelers could decide to give a player rest depending on how the other game is going when inactives are due.

Projected Inactive List:

1. Kyle Allen (3rd QB)
2. Scotty Miller
3. Dean Lowry
4. Donte Jackson
5. Jeremiah Moon

I’m going to be honest and I went with the five players this week who I hope make up the list. There is no reason for any kind of practice elevations or moves with the 53-man roster ahead of this game, so It should be just five players.

Kyle Allen is obvious and I think Scottie Miller has to be. The Steelers have also shown that Lowry is who is inactive when they have enough players otherwise. After these three, it gets tricky.

Whether he’s truly injured or not, I think the Steelers should have Donte Jackson in active “as a precaution” if nothing more than to give Cory Trice the easy way to earn the helmet. Without Jackson, I think Trice is the starter opposite Porter. Isn’t this the cornerback duo Steelers fans have been wanting to see all season? I would love nothing more than this to be the starting pair because, if they play well, the Steelers should keep it going into the playoffs. Trice was the best player in the secondary on Christmas Day against the Chiefs, so I would love to see him get his shot opposite Porter.

For the last spot, I’m going with Jeremiah Moon because I would love to see Preston Smith as the fourth option at OLB because I think he actually helps. It’s really a coin flip if the Steelers think they have enough players for special teams otherwise. Getting back Ben Skowronek is going to help and could make this a possibility. But if I had to bet on it, it would probably be Preston Smith’s name I expect to be on the list. But I’m going with what I’m hoping for instead.

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