Steelers 53-man roster: Defense has new look, members
The Pittsburgh Steelers did very little on Friday to whittle down their roster to the NFL’s mandatory 53-man roster, choosing to use Saturday to finalize some tough decisions. Yesterday, we looked at the offense and specialists. Today, we’ll look at who will be on the defensive side of the ball. Beyond just posting the list, I thought it would be interesting to look at the 53-man roster predictions by Joe Kuzma and Brian Roach leading up to Saturday’s announcement by the Steelers.
Defensive Line (6)
With Heyward and Tuitt making the most of the snaps they did see, the Steelers saw a bit more nastiness from McCullers. It sealed the nose tackle a spot on the initial 53-man roster heading into Week 1 of the 2018 NFL regular season. Parker Cothren, Joshua Frazier, Greg Gilmore, Lavon Hooks, Casey Sayles and Kendal Vickers were all released as a result. Whether any of them are invited to return via the practice squad will remain to be seen on September 2. In his prediction article, Brian wrote, “Josh Frazier, the sixth-round pick, will likely find a home on the practice squad giving him time to develop so it looks like McCullers has done enough to earn one more year to show he is progressing.”
Linebackers (9)
- Bud Dupree
- T.J. Watt
- Vince Williams
- L.J. Fort
- Anthony Chickillo
- Tyler Matakevich
- Matthew Thomas
- Jon Bostic
- Olasunkanmi Adeniyi
Everyone had high hopes that Keion Adams would have a nice camp and preseason after missing all of 2017 injured, but he didn’t make the cut. The Steelers released Adams, Matt Galambos, and Farrington Huguenin. Adeniyi was a great surprise during the preseason, showing nice pass-rush skills and getting more disruptive as his snaps increased. Matthew Thomas also put on quite a performance, giving the Steelers some real life in their linebackers corps. In his predictions, Joe felt that Adeniyi would initially make the team but would be released – and joined possibly by Fort – before being added to the practice squad. He predicts the Steelers are still looking to add a free agent linebacker early in the week. Brian also would not be shocked if the Steelers search for one more piece via free agency. Ryan Shazier remains on the injured/reserved. Keith Kelsey was placed on waived/injured.
Secondary
Cornerbacks (5)
The Steelers carried six cornerbacks in 2017, but they whittled that down – for now – to just five. One of the areas that have haunted Pittsburgh’s defense, it looks like the coaching staff was satisfied enough to let Brian Allen, Dashaun Phillips, Malik Reaves and Jamar Summers go. Trey Johnson, listed as a DB, was placed on reserve/injured.
Safeties (5)
While safety Malik Golden was placed on waived/injured, the Steelers held on to Marcus over Brian Allen and kept Dangerfield over Nat Berhe. These were two moves that neither Joe nor Brian predicted. Joe saw (Brian) Allen and Berhe as better options for their value on special teams. Apparently, the Steelers coaching staff have seen something else in practices and games or are still making a few decisions in who may be shuffled to the practice squad.
Conclusion
The Steelers will look a bit different in 2018, and it’s more about personnel packages than the players in the jerseys (including those who’ve changed their number since last year). The defense was a bit trickier for Brian and Joe – among others – to predict. It should be interesting to see if the Steelers make any more changes to the roster as they fill their practice squad and prepare for their first regular season game on September 9 against the Cleveland Browns. The Steelers can add ten players to their practice squad or scout team as soon as noon on Sunday.
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