When the Pittsburgh Steelers trimmed their roster from 90 to 53 players, there were some notable aspects of decisions made. Obviously the trades involving Kevin Dotson and Kendrick Green dominated the news cycle, but with Zach Gentry being the most notable cut it meant there was an aspect of these decisions which might have been over looked.

That being the Steelers have kept all of their rookie class in the organization, at least as of now. In case you wanted to double check, here is the draft class below:

Round 1: Broderick Jones
Round 2: Joey Porter Jr.
Round 2: Keeanu Benton
Round 3: Darnell Washington
Round 4: Nick Herbig
Round 7: Cory Trice Jr.
Round 7: Spencer Anderson

The caveat to this would be Trice being placed on Injured Reserve (IR) after a significant knee injury in training camp ended his rookie season almost before it started. Other than that, all seven players who were selected in the draft remained on the roster/organization.

The next logical question is whether this is something which typically happens. A big shout out to Dave Schofield for finding this information without me even asking him for it, the past several draft classes have not all be represented once the roster was solidified.

In fact, the 2023 class seems to be abnormal when you look at players who were drafted yet didn’t make the Steelers 53-man roster. Let’s take a look:

2022: Chris Oladokun — Eventually signed with the Kansas City Chiefs
2021: Quincy Roche — Eventually signed with the New York Giants
2020: Antoine Brooks Jr. — Signed to Practice Squad (PS)
2019: Derwin Gray / Sutton Smith — Gray signed to PS
2018: Joshua Frazier
2017: Colin Holba — Eventually signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars

If you are like me, you probably are looking at the depth at cornerback and wishing Trice was able to be a part of the 53-man roster, and not in IR, but the draft class as a whole lived up to the hype. Even someone like Spencer Anderson, who I thought would be nothing more than a PS candidate, proved everyone wrong with his versatility to play all along the offensive line.

For the Steelers, it’s a credit to their scouting department, but also the coaching staff to help get these players ready to go early in their careers. Will all these players stick on the 53? Most will, but you never know. If you’re asking if they’ll all be active on game day, that’s a different discussion altogether. It’s a great first step for the 2023 draft class.

Be sure to  stay tuned to SCN for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they prepare for the San Francisco 49ers in Week 1 of the regular season.