Steel City Underground takes fans back in time to feature events, special moments, and historical times and players in the world of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Steelers Nation. Join us as we revisit these moments in our “Steelers Throwback Thursday” series.

With the initial 53-man roster released for the 2024 Pittsburgh Steelers regular season, I played devil’s advocate in peeking back at how well Joe Kuzma (founder and podcast host) and Brian E. Roach (old guard football guru and podcast co-host) of Steel City Underground did in predicting who would make that roster ahead of the 2017 NFL regular season.

Typically, these two have their finger on the pulse of the team… and they broke down this upcoming season’s roster well. But, was that an acquired skill they developed, or were they spot-on seven years ago? Yes, I really wanted to know, so this week’s “Throwback Thursday” is all about how accurate they were.

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Joe’s 2017 prediction

You can see his entire prediction here on the site, but for the sake of this post, I’ll simplify. Joe typically feels out his predictions by doing his homework.

• QBs (3): Ben Roethlisberger, Landry Jones, Josh Dobbs
• RBs (4): Le’Veon Bell, James Conner, Terrell Watson, Roosevelt Nix
• TEs (4): Vance McDonald, Jesse James, Xavier Grimble, David Johnson
• WRs (6): Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant, Eli Rogers, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Sammie Coates, Justin Hunter
• Offensive Line (9): Maurkice Pouncey, Alejandro Villanueva, Marcus Gilbert, David DeCastro, Ramon Foster, B.J. Finney, Chris Hubbard, Jerald Hawkins, Matt Feiler
• Defensive Line (5): Cameron Heyward, Javon Hargrave, Stephon Tuitt, Tyson Alualu, L.T. Walton
• OLBs (5): James Harrison, Bud Dupree, T.J. Watt, Arthur Moats, Anthony Chickillo
• ILBs (4): Ryan Shazier, Vince Williams, Tyler Matakevich, L.J. Fort
• Corners (6): Artie Burns, Joe Haden, Cameron Sutton, William Gay, Mike Hilton, Ross Cockrell
• Safeties (4): Mike Mitchell, Sean Davis, Robert Golden, Jordan Dangerfield
• Specialists (3): Colin Holba (LS), Chris Boswell (K), Jordan Berry (P)

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Brian’s roster predictions

If you ask him, Brian will tell you that he has an eye for linebackers. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t see the big team picture, as you can see from his his full prediction.

• QBs (3): Ben Roethlisberger, Landry Jones, Josh Dobbs
• RBs (4): Le’Veon Bell, James Conner, Terrell Watson, Roosevelt Nix
• TEs (4): Vance McDonald, Jesse James, Xavier Grimble, David Johnson
• WRs (6): Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant, Eli Rogers, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Justin Hunter, Sammie Coates
• Offensive Line (8): Maurkice Pouncey, David DeCastro, Ramon Foster, Marcus Gilbert, Alejandro Villanueva, B.J. Finney, Chris Hubbard, Jerald Hawkins
• Defensive Line (6): Cam Heyward, Stephon Tuitt, Javon Hargrave, Tyson Alualu, L.T. Walton, Johnny Maxey
• OLBs (5):
  James Harrison, Bud Dupree, T.J. Watt, Anthony Chickillo, Arthur Moats
• ILBs (4):
  Ryan Shazier, Vince Williams, Tyler Matakevitch, L.J. Fort
• Corners (6):
  Joe Haden, Artie Burns, Cameron Sutton, Coty Sensabaugh, William Gay, Ross Cockrell
• Safeties (4): Mike Mitchell, Sean Davis, Jordan Dangerfield, Robert Golden
• Specialists (3):
  Jordan Berry (P), Chris Boswell (K), Colin Holba (LS)

The differences between the two

The duo didn’t necessarily agree on every player, nor did they put the same emphasis (number of players) in each position group. As you can see, Joe beefed up the numbers on the offensive line while Brian took the extra and added it to the defensive front. Is that an indicator of their predilections? Knowing them both, I think they had the trenches stacked, for good reason. They just did not agree on how deep the linemen on both sides of the ball would be.

No one could have predicted the injury to Ryan Shazier that season, or any of the injuries that altered the roster throughout the season.

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The actual initial 53-man roster

What did the coaches and staff of the Pittsburgh Steelers, after the preseason ended, opt for as far as their initial 53 men?

First, there were several players that they didn’t place on their depth chart ahead of the initial release. That included players on a “not participating in practice” list containing Landry Jones, Martavis Bryant, Sammie Coates, Demarcus Ayers, Cam Sutton, Mike Mitchell, Le’Veon Bell, Senquez Golson, James Conner, Maurkice Pouncey, Mike Matthews, and Keion Adams.

Bryant was awaiting reinstatement from the NFL, and Bell had not yet signed his franchise tender. Coates was on the PUP list due to needing a post- knee surgery physical.

But, their roster was finalized with the following by September 2, 2017:

• QBs: Josh Dobbs, Landry Jones, Ben Roethlisberger
• RBs: James Conner, Roosevelt Nix, Terrell Watson (Note: Le’Veon Bell did not count on the team’s 53-man roster at that time)
• TEs: Jesse James, Xavier Grimble, Vance McDonald
• WRs: Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant, Darrius Heyward-Bey, Justin Hunter, Eli Rogers, JuJu Smith-Schuster
• Offensive line: David DeCastro, Ramon Foster, Matt Feiler, B.J. Finney, Marcus Gilbert, Jerald Hawkins, Chris Hubbard, Maurkice Pouncey, Alejandro Villanueva
• Defensive line: Tyson Alualu, Javon Hargrave, Cam Heyward, Dan McCullers, Stephon Tuitt, L.T. Walton
• Linebackers: Anthony Chickillo, Bud Dupree, L.J. Fort, William Gay, Tyler Matakevich, Arthur Moats, Ryan Shazier, T.J. Watt, Vince Williams
• Defensive backs: Brian Allen, Artie Burns, Jordan Dangerfield, Sean Davis, Joe Haden, William Gay, Robert Golden, Mike Hilton, Mike Mitchell, Coty Sensabaugh, Cam Sutton
• Specialists: Jordan Berry, Chris Boswell, Kameron Canaday

The Steelers opted on the following moves: to add an additional player to their defensive backfield due to inconsistency and significant turnover during the preseason by listing William Gay at both DB and interior linebacker, Johnny Maxey was cut from the defensive line, Ross Cockrell was cut from the defensive backfield, David Johnson wasn’t retained at right end, kept Canaday over Holba, and Matt Feiler was retained on the offensive line.

Overall, Joe and Brian were highly accurate, a credit to them both. Fans who do these predictions are likely to be nearly as accurate if they, too, are analyzing training camp and preseason play closely.

In the end, the Steelers will always make a final determination for their roster that leaves someone’s preferred or preseason favorite off the list. Luckily, the practice squad leaves the door open for some of those players to return.

How accurate were your roster predictions? Leave us a comment below.