The Triple Trifecta here at the Steel Curtain Network, otherwise known as Jeff Hartman, Dave Schofield, and Bryan Anthony Davis, were discussing the Pittsburgh Steelers roster deficiencies on their latest episode of the Steelers Preview, and it got me to thinking of what that roster even looks like at this point. With so many new faces coming into the building, just who will we, the fans, be rooting for come August?

After the Pittsburgh Steelers front office made some splash plays at the start of Free Agency, the Steelers roster for the 2024 NFL season is now beginning to take shape. For all of the moves that the Steelers fans have seen already, it’s easy to forget that Free Agency just started. The “player acquisition phase” of the offseason is just beginning. There will be many new faces added to the team between now and the start of Voluntary Workouts.

Now that the Steelers have started adding players, lets review the architecture of the roster to see just where they are at with the overall depth at positions. Even though the Steelers can have as many as 90 players through the rest of the Offseason, and into Training Camp, there are obvious candidates to make the final 53 man roster, and there are obvious candidates to NOT make the final 53 man roster.

This is not to say that any of the “not obvious” candidates cannot make it onto the 53 man roster. But let’s be honest in saying that those players have a much harder hill to climb than say, any of the Free Agents who recently signed or intend to sign with the Club, and also the Draft Selections the Steelers make when the NFL Draft opens up in a little over a month from now on April 25th.

I will be including everyone from the official 90 man roster, and also the free agents that have not officially signed yet, but have been reportedly linked to the Steelers. I have gathered the names from the Steelers official website, and trawled the wire for all of the reported free agents who have not yet signed. Some names you see you may recognize. Some may look completely foreign to you, at least a couple did to me.

I’ll split up the groups by Offense, Defense, and Special Teams, and list the players by position. If a player looks to be in the wrong position group, it is because the Steelers official site has them listed as such. If we have any confusion, we should probably ask Andrew Wilbar or Jeremy Betz of The Steelers Fix podcast for clarification on positions since they are the Player Personnel professionals (amongst other things) here at the Steel Curtain Network.

Please note, this is still a fluid situation and can change at anytime, including in the time between when this was written and when it gets out to you, so stay tuned to the ENTIRETY of the Steel Curtain Network for the latest updates regarding the Pittsburgh Steelers. 

Offense – Total # of Players: 32

(Key: Underlined name denotes players expected to make the Final 53, * denotes player who has position flexibility)

Quarterback – Russell Wilson

Running Back – Najee Harris, Jaylen Warren, Alfonzo Graham, Aaron Shampklin, John Colletto

Tight End – Pat Freiermuth, Darnell Washington*, Connor Heyward*, Rodney Williams

Wide Receiver – George Pickens, Calvin Austin III, Dez Fitzpatrick, Marquez Callaway, Keilhan Harris, Denzel Mims, Deuce Watts

Offensive Tackle – Broderick Jones*, Dan Moore Jr, Spencer Anderson*, Joey Fisher, Tyler Beach, Dylan Cook, Kellen Diesch, Devery Hamilton, Anderson Hardy

Offensive Guard – James Daniels, Isaac Seumalo, Nate Herbig*

Center – Ryan McCollum

Specialists – Christian Kuntz, Chris Boswell

Notes about the Offense:

• What the heck happened to the Quarterback room in the last 2 weeks!?!
• The Center position obviously stands out like a sore hangnail due to the lack of available quality AND quantity. Nothing reported in Free Agency as of yet, it looks as though the Steelers will be content signing a mid-level guy to a cheaper deal, and going ‘All-In’ on the Center class of the 2024 NFL Draft.
• The Wide Receiver room is in the same boat, but the Practice Squad guys have shown promise in the past. Can any of them make the leap?
• The Quarterback position will get another body, the Steelers like to carry 3 guys even if they don’t activate all of them on game day.
• Offensive Tackle is a position that needs a quality upgrade. There are a lot of bodies in the room, but none that will wow you with their play by beating out Dan Moore. Broderick Jones proved last year that he is a legit Franchise Cornerstone Left Tackle. Now the Steelers need to find the other bookend.
• After I started listing the Specialists, it occured to me that with the release of Big Press, Pressley Harvin III, the Steelers no longer have a Kick Holder for Extra Points. It is expected that comedian Bill Burr’s Aussie twin brother, Cameron Johnston, will assume those duties but it does bring up a question that maybe someone more learned than me can answer:

Why don’t the Steelers use their 3rd QB, or even the backup QB, to be the holder? It would make FG fakes much more effective with a trained football thrower doing the throwing of the football, wouldn’t it? Listen, especially if you’ve got an athletic QB as your backup like Kenny Pickett…

… Maybe I should just Pump Your Brakes on that take…

Defense – Total # of Players: 36

Defensive Tackle – Cam Heyward, Montravius Adams, Isaiah Loudermilk, Larry Ogunjobi, Jonathan Marshall, Jacob Slade

Nose Tackle – Breiden Fehoko

Defensive Line – Keanu Benton*

Defensive End – Demarvin Leal

EDGE – TJ Watt, Alex Highsmith, Nick Herbig, David Perales, Tyler Murray, Jeremiah Moon, Kyron Johnson

Inside Linebacker – Patrick Queen, Cole Holcomb, Elandon Roberts, Mark Robinson

Cornerback – Joey Porter Jr, Donte Jackson, Darius Rush, Cory Trice Jr, Kalon Barnes, Luq Barco, Thomas Graham Jr, Josiah Scott,

Safety- Minkah Fitzpatrick, DeShon Elliott, Damonte Kazee, Miles Killebrew*, Jalen Elliott, Nathan Meadors, Trenton Thompson

Specialist – Cameron Johnston

Notes about the Defense: 

• Players such as Breiden Fehoko and Cory Trice Jr may likely end up on the Final 53, but there is no guarantee that they will make it on the team. Remember that Fehoko was on the Practice Squad most of the year and Trice, although he was flashing at Camp, was a 7th Round pick for a reason.
• Cornerback – Trice is obviously an intriguing player after several good reports out of Camp regarding his play. His injury history is obviously something to consider as it was a major reason he slipped to the 7th Round, and the reason he spent all of last year on IR, but there in lies the caveat to it: The Steelers kept a Rookie 7th rounder on the Roster even though he was on IR and had no chance of playing last year. IF he comes back and shows out the same as last year, then the Steelers are just in that much better of a position, and Corner won’t be nearly the big hole it seems to be at the moment.
• The Safety room looks pretty solid with the addition of Elliott, and with Killebrew coming back to provide depth, but more importantly, his very solid Special Teams play.
• Inside Linebacker room looks a bit heavy. Do the Steelers make a hard choice there with Holcomb, Roberts, or Robinson? Holcomb and Roberts were playing well before their injuries. Mark Robinson has progressed (slowly) but as a 7th Round selection, has his time run out?
• Defensive Line – I will just say this much about the position(s): the Steelers need to find a 0-Tech Nose Tackle. If they are truly a 3-4 Base Defense, then there is a necessity of having a true 0-Tech on the roster. The Run Defense for the Steelers has not been as stout as in years past, and in part it is because the Steelers have lacked the proper talent at the position to warrant keeping an obvious 2 down player on the roster. No one has been successful enough to do that since Casey Hampton manned the spot. There is a certain someone I am enamored with though, nicknamed “Loaf” and whom also played college ball at the same place as “Big Snack”, who is going to be available in this upcoming Draft that I believe can fix this issue. T’Vondre Sweat is roughly the same weight as Casey Hampton (around 360lbs), but Sweat is 4″ taller than Hampton, making Sweat not just big, but flat out massive. Will he be available at #51 overall when the Steelers pick in the 2nd round? Or do they have bigger positional priorities and pass him up?

Total Number of Players Currently on Team: 68

Total Number of Roster Spots Open: 22

So while there are obvious holes in the roster, there is plenty of time left on the Offseason Clock to fill the gaps. Plus, with the NFL Draft just a little over a month away, there will be 7 more chances to fill in the 2024 Pittsburgh Steelers roster, and that does not include any type of Compensation Picks the Steelers may still yet get.

If Omar Khan and the Pittsburgh Steelers front office has proven anything in the last two Offseasons, it is that THIS Steelers front office in 2024 is NOT like your grandfathers front office. The Black and Gold braintrust is simply doing business differently than in years past and to be quite honest, their aggressiveness is refreshing to see and makes putting confidence in them that much easier, knowing they are turning over every stone to make this a competitive roster.

Let’s just wait and see what else the ‘Khan Artist’ has up his sleeve. Stay tuned throughout the offseason as I continue to update the 90 man roster leading into Training Camp and Camp Cuts!