A WAY TOO EARLY post-draft attempt to predict a 53 man roster & 10 man practice squad

[RuthlessBurgher]

I have our first 6 draft picks making the final roster, with our last two picks on the practice squad (plus 1 UDFA o-lineman making the team and another UDFA o-lineman on the practice squad...it will be an interesting competition between Dismukes and Finney to see who makes the team and who is on the P.S.; I give my early advantage to the smaller guy who is the better blocker on the move at the second level than the more stout guy, since that seems to be the way that we are leaning with our current blocking philosophy). When making decisions among the last few LB, CB, S, WR, RB, etc. on the bubble to keep, I tried to weigh potential special teams contributions heavily. I'm not 100% sure that the guys I am suggesting for the practice squad all still have P.S. eligibility left, but I'll work under the assumption that they do. If anyone knows differently, let me know.

QB (3)
Ben Roethlisberger
Bruce Gradkowski
Landry Jones

RB (3)
Le'Veon Bell
DeAngelo Williams
Josh Harris

FB (1)
Will Johnson

RB/WR (1)
Dri Archer

WR (5)
Antonio Brown
Martavis Bryant
Markus Wheaton
Sammie Coates
Darrius Heyward-Bey

TE (3)
Heath Miller
Matt Spaeth
Jesse James

C (1)
Maurkice Pouncey

G (2)
David DeCastro
Ramon Foster

C/G (2)
Cody Wallace
Reese Dismukes

T (3)
Kelvin Beachum
Marcus Gilbert
Mike Adams

Total Players on Offense: 24


DT (2)
Steve McLendon
Daniel McCullers

DE (4)
Cameron Heyward
Stephon Tuitt
Cam Thomas
L.T. Walton

OLB (5)
Arthur Moats
Jarvis Jones
James Harrison
Bud Dupree
Howard Jones

ILB (5)
Ryan Shazier
Lawrence Timmons
Vince Williams
Sean Spence
Jordan Zumwalt

CB (5)
William Gay
Cortez Allen
Antwan Blake
Senquez Golson
Doran Grant

S (5)
Mike Mitchell
Shamarko Thomas
Will Allen
Robert Golden
Ross Ventrone

Total Players on Defense: 26


K (1)
Shaun Suisham

P (1)
Brad Wing

LS (1)
Greg Warren

Total Players who are Specialists: 3


Practice Squad (10)
C/G B.J. Finney
OT Alejandro Villenueva
WR C.J. Goodwin
TE Rob Branchflower
DE Ethan Hemer
DE Joe Kruger
OLB Anthony Chickillo
OLB Shawn Lemon
CB B.W. Webb
FS Gerod Holliman

[Discipline of Steel]

We have to do better than Baby Godzilla at DE, even if he is just a backup, so I hope that doesnt play out as predicted.

The other comment I have is that RB is a giant weakness behind Bellcow. Williams may not be washed up but I hate to think our SB season hinges on him if Bellcow does fall to injury. With no answer on the practice squad, we will be looking for another guy off the street. Maybe take a guy off defense like Ventrone and add Ben Tate to the offense. We would still be 25/25 off/def.

[steelblood]

I would keep Terrance Garvin over Ventrone. He is a better special teams player and could actually play of defense if necessary. I know that is 11 linebackers and 9 DBs. But, Ventrone hardly counts as a safety as we'd have to be desperate to put him in on defense. I would then get two safeties and a corner on the PS.

I also feel the Steelers would keep Garvin over Howard Jones (which imo is a mistake). Glad to see HoJo on your list.

[steelblood]

Also, if Holliman actually shows he can tackle, Robert Golden becomes expendable.

[SteelCrazy]

I see Gerod Holliman making it onthe 53. LT Walton may not even make the PS. Shawn Lemon may have a chance for the 53 too.....

[K Train]

Robert Golden is one of the best special teamers in the league....no way Holliman can beat him out on ST

[RuthlessBurgher]

I see Gerod Holliman making it onthe 53. LT Walton may not even make the PS. Shawn Lemon may have a chance for the 53 too.....

I figured that since Holliman was such a poor tackler that he would be useless on special teams coverage units, which is why I went with Ventrone as the 5th safety and gave Holliman a year to improve on the P.S.

I think our depth at DE is the worst on the roster. Behind Heyward and Tuitt, the next best option is Cam Freaking Thomas, and I gave the 4th spot to Walton over youngsters Kruger and Hemer, who I put on the practice squad. Maybe they decide to keep the veteran Clifton Geathers this year and move the rookie Walton over to the P.S. for a year, taking the place of either Kruger or Hemer.

Lemon will compete with Howard Jones and Anthony Chickillo for the last OLB spot behind Moats, Jarvis, Deebo, and Bud. I gave the advantage to HoJo for now, because he has one year on the P.S. under his belt already, and placed Lemon and Chickillo on the P.S. for their first year.

[RuthlessBurgher]

We have to do better than Baby Godzilla at DE, even if he is just a backup, so I hope that doesnt play out as predicted.

The other comment I have is that RB is a giant weakness behind Bellcow. Williams may not be washed up but I hate to think our SB season hinges on him if Bellcow does fall to injury. With no answer on the practice squad, we will be looking for another guy off the street. Maybe take a guy off defense like Ventrone and add Ben Tate to the offense. We would still be 25/25 off/def.

We can certainly improve on Josh Harris, but right now, he is the best RB3 on our offseason roster. Same thing with Cam Thomas. An upgrade would be nice, but I predict that he gets kept. John Mitchell loves vets.

[RuthlessBurgher]

I would keep Terrance Garvin over Ventrone. He is a better special teams player and could actually play of defense if necessary. I know that is 11 linebackers and 9 DBs. But, Ventrone hardly counts as a safety as we'd have to be desperate to put him in on defense. I would then get two safeties and a corner on the PS.

I also feel the Steelers would keep Garvin over Howard Jones (which imo is a mistake). Glad to see HoJo on your list.

I initially had Garvin in over Zumwalt as the last ILB due to his special teams prowess, but we have so many promising young LB possibilities, that I figured that I would keep a couple of younger guys at the last 2 LB spots, since we pretty much have maxed out what we are going to get out of Garvin. If Zumwalt's healthy, I think he'd be able to match Garvin's ST abilities and may even grow into a contributor on defense eventually as well.

[steelblood]

Robert Golden is one of the best special teamers in the league....no way Holliman can beat him out on ST

I wouldn't be keeping him for special teams. I'd be keeping him for nickel and dime defenses. The kid from Ohio State could more than make up for the loss of Golden.

[Discipline of Steel]

We can certainly improve on Josh Harris, but right now, he is the best RB3 on our offseason roster. Same thing with Cam Thomas. An upgrade would be nice, but I predict that he gets kept. John Mitchell loves vets.

As far as I know, Ben Tate is still in the mix? Is he currently under contract?
In any case, I think he is a more proven player than Harris and with an off-season under his belt he would have some potential upside compared to what he produced for us last year. I mean, its not inconceivable that RB3 would see the field...unlike QB3 who is truly unlikely (we hope) to never see the field.

[K Train]

Ben Tate is not under contract

[Discipline of Steel]

What is the likelihood we sign him up for at least the off-season? I would imagine he wants to play and hes probably better than Josh Harris...

[pfelix73]

Man, that list of CB's is awfully thin with not having the likes of Ike on there... I'm holding out hope that they might sign another FA CB this summer......

[Chadman]

Do the Steelers get to keep Bell on the Non-Playing List for the term of his suspension? Because if he is, I see them keeping Josh Harris. If Bell has to start the year on the active roster, Harris could be on the PS.. I think the Steelers might keep 4 WR's & have Archer play the 5th WR role, as well as 3rd RB- saving a roster spot.

One reason I think Chickillo might make it is if Butler wants to play different DL formations- he might be a very decent fit at DE on a 4 man line. He offers that versatility that I'm not sure Howard Jones offers. I think Walton might just be a PS guy, Geathers was brought back for a reason. Unless they run with 5 DL & a guy like Chickillo (again) taking occasional snaps, particularly in package downs...