In projecting a 53-man roster for the Pittsburgh Steelers we are looking at a pretty easy case for 49 guys. It’s those final four guys that give us some consternation. Our goal will be to project the roster after each preseason game before finally culminating in the real thing prior to the opener against Cleveland. We’ll also try to project those going to the practice squad that week as well.
OFFENSE (25)
Quarterbacks (3) – Ben Roethlisberger, Bruce Gradowski, Landry Jones
Running Backs (3) – Le’Veon Bell, LeGarrette Blount, Dri Archer
Fullback (1) – Will Johnson
Wide Receivers (5) – Antonio Brown, Markus Wheaton, Lance Moore, Justin Brown, Martavis Bryant, Darrius Heyward-Bey
Tight Ends (4) – Heath Miller, Matt Spaeth, Michael Palmer, Eric Waters
Linemen (8) – Maurkice Pouncey, Ramon Foster, David DeCastro, Marcus Gilbert, Kelvin Beachum, Cody Wallace, Mike Adams, Guy Whimper
HERE’S OUR THINKING: The QBs are set, we can see the addition of Jordan Hall to the backfield because it looks thin and we don’t think of Archer as a true RB. Mike Tomlin likes seven or eight on the OL on the roster and other than Chris Elkins, the young guys haven’t shown much. The TE position is intriguing because Rob Blanchflower has been hurt and David Paulson has struggled. Waters has been very good in camp to this point. The Steelers could drop Waters thinking that Adams can be that ‘blocking’ TE Todd Haley likes so much.
DEFENSE (25)
Defensive Line (7) – Steve McLendon, Cam Heyward, Cam Thomas, Stephon Tuitt, Josh Mauro, Daniel McCullers, Brian Arnfelt
Linebackers (9) – Lawrence Timmons, Ryan Shazier, Jason Worilds, Jarvis Jones, Arthur Moats, Vince Williams, Sean Spence, Jordan Zumwalt, Terence Garvin
Defensive Backs (9) – Troy Polamalu, Mike Mitchell, Shamarko Thomas, Robert Golden, Ike Taylor, William Gay, Cortez Allen, Antwon Blake, Brice McCain
HERE’S OUR THINKING: Tomlin and Dick LeBeau have some serious decisions to make especially with the linebackers. Our gut feeling is that Zumwalt finds a way onto this roster. The problem is where do you put Howard Jones? I’m afraid he won’t stay on the practice squad long because other teams will scoop him up. I see Josh Mauro the same. He’s been good in camp and other teams will pick him up quickly. The secondary could change based on the number of safeties they choose to keep. Tomlin likes Will Allen but I think Golden gets his spot.
SPECIALISTS (3)
Punter (1) – Adam Podlesh
Kicker (1) – Shaun Suisham
Long Snapper (1) – Greg Warren
HERE’S OUR THINKING: Wing was terrible in the first half Saturday night but redeemed himself in the second half. I just think Podlesh has the veteran presence they like at the punter spot.
Marc Uhlmann writes for and co-owns www.steelcityblitz.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteelDad and the website @SCBlitz. Check us out on Facebook at facebook.com/steelcityblitz and on Fancred.com. You can hear him weekly during the season on Trib-Live Radio
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