The Pittsburgh Steelers are heading into the eighth week of the 2024 regular season which will be the second of their back-to-back prime time home games. With seven inactive lists down for the season, it should now be slightly easier to predict, but injuries are more the driving force. For Week 8, the Steelers have five players ruled out and one listed as doubtful.

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 Monday Night Football, the Steelers have until 4 PM Monday to make any roster moves or practice squad elevations.

Game Status

OUT:

LB Nick Herbig (hamstring)
C Zach Frazier (ankle)
WR Roman Wilson (hamstring)
*OT Dylan Cook (foot)
*LB Tyler Matakevich (Hamstring)

*Not on the 53-man roster

DOUBTFUL:

RB/KR Cordarrelle Patterson (ankle)

Here are the possibilities to end up inactive for the Steelers against the Giants on Monday night:

Definitely:

LB Nick Herbig– The Steelers will hopefully get Herbig back following the bye.

C Zach Frazier– The same goes for Frazier as Week 10 could be a good spot to get him back in the lineup.

WR Roman Wilson– This has been disappointing all season. I’m not going to be shocked if the Steelers put Roman Wilson on IR on Monday. It might be time.

Most Likely:

RB/KR Cordarrelle Patterson– Unless his status changes sometime on Sunday, the Steelers haven’t played a player who was doubtful in a very long time.

QB Kyle Allen– Outside of injury, this is his spot for the rest of the year. At least he gets to wear his jersey on the sidelines.

G Max Scharping– I was surprised he was active last week because the Steelers went with nine offensive linemen. They only did that because they could. I don’t see why they need to this week.

Possibly:

RB Aaron Shampklin– The Steelers opted for running back from the practice squad last week and had Shampklin inactive. Jonathan Ward is out of elevations so Shampklin could be active unless the Steelers add Ward to the 53 by Monday afternoon.

CB C.J. Henderson– He was just signed to the Steelers active roster this week, but the Steelers have 10 healthy defensive backs and someone might not get a helmet.

S Terrell Edmunds– I don’t want the defensive back to not get a helmet to be Edmunds as he has been doing well for the Steelers, but if the Steelers decided it’s a safety he would be the last man on the depth chart.

TE Rodney Williams– It’s possible any week that the Steelers don’t go with five tight ends. If that’s the case then Williams would be the last guy. I’m not sure if that’s going to be the case just yet.

Unlikely:

LB Ade Ogundeji– The Steelers don’t have to elevate another outside linebacker because Ogundeji stayed on the roster this week. Until Herbig is back, he should have helmet on game day.

Projected Inactive List:

1. Kyle Allen+
2. Nick Herbig
3. Zach Frazier
4. Roman Wilson
5. Cordarrelle Patterson
6. Max Scharping*

+3rd quarterback and will dress

The top six names for this list are easy, hence why that’s all the further I went. As long as these players are still on the roster come Monday at 4:01 PM, this is the list. Where things get tricky is with the Steelers roster moves and elevations. I assume the Steelers will elevate at least one player from the practice squad or add one to the 53-man roster if Roman Wilson heads to IR.

Things get tricky is if the Steelers need seven names on the list, or even just six and Roman Wilson isn’t one of them. They could go with four tight ends and it would be Rodney Williams, or they’ll have to sit a defensive back and C.J. Henderson doesn’t get into the mix just yet. I’m not sure which way they would go, so I didn’t make that call. If one of the elevations or roster moves is a running back, then Aaron Shampklin goes on this list. For this reason, I’m only sticking with six names with Max Scharping being the last one who would be the one who would get a helmet if the Steelers make no moves.

But for me, the most surprising thing would be no adjustments to the roster on Monday. I assume the Steelers would want some help at wide receiver and/or defensive tackle. While they could skimp at these positions, I don’t know that they would.

UPDATE: The changes announced to injury statuses on Sunday does not really change things. I already believed Patterson would not play, and having Justin Fields as questionable simply has it as a coin flip for him or Kyle Allen as the 3rd quarterback. Either way both players should be dressed.

The #Steelers are downgrading RB/KR Cordarrelle Patterson (ankle) to OUT for Monday’s game vs. NYG. The team is also adding QB Justin Fields (hamstring) to the injury report and will be listed as questionable.

— Burt Lauten (@SteelersPRBurt) October 27, 2024

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