The way to early 53 man rroster

[birtikidis]

Definitely level of competition. He was fat and sloppy coming out of HS which limited his scholarship offers. Turned it around in college and now has an NFL caliber frame. Technique needs a bit of work but as a UDFA offers a huge upside

I heard he's not very strong at the point of attack and plays lighter than he is. I haven't really seen any of his film, just read a couple pieces on h im

[Rara]

Mettenberger was released today, so...

[SteelerOfDeVille]

Almost started a new thread for this (glad i searched page 2)

Here's my own way too early 53-man roster:

Couple of quick comments. I think people forget that Moats has played both OLB and ILB for this team. I suspect the FO (and coaches) see him as the backup ILB, since OLB depth is now covered; technically, I see him swinging between the two (ala Chad Brown), which could be dangerous 'cuz he aint no Chad Brown.

Admitting that I would like to see more linemen on both sides of the ball show up in camp, purely for a competition perspective. Not sure if the draft is an indication of them liking what they have, or really just wanting to address specific positions. (There's just not much difference in 209 vs 214, particularly if it's a position of need).

In the case of all the camp battles, I put the guy that I expect to win that battle first -- i.e., (Knile Davis Vs F Toussant) means, I think Davis wins the spot.

Having said that, here's how I see it playing out:

QB (3) - Ben, Landry, Dobbs
RB (3) - Bell, Conner, (Knile Davis vs Toussant)
WR (6) - AB, Bryant, JuJu, Eli, Coates, (Ayers v Hamilton)
FB (1) - Nix
TE (4) - Green, James, David Johnson, (Orndoff vs Grimble)
OL (8 - Pouncey, DeCastro, Foster, Gilbert, Villanueva, Finney, Hubbard, Hawkins
DL (6) - Hargrave, Heyward, Tuitt, McCullers, Alualu, Walton
OLB(5) - Harrison, Dupree, Watt, Chickillo, Keion Adams (yup, I said it)
ILB(4) - Shazier, Williams, Moats, (Matakevich vs Steven Johnson)
CB (6) - Burns, Cockrell, Sutton, Golson, Sensabaugh, Allen (yes, I say active roster. I think he makes a splash play in preseason and they have to activate him to keep)
S (4) - Davis, Mitchell, Gay, Golden
ST (3) - Boswell, Berry, Hoba (drafting him in the 6ths means he's making the roster or you look like idiots. Could warren also stick in a transition year? possible, but, unlikely)

PS - Francis Kallon, Christian Brown, Ethan Cooper (2 more - aren't there 5 PS players?)

[feltdizz]

what about LS?

[RuthlessBurgher]

PS - Francis Kallon, Christian Brown, Ethan Cooper (2 more - aren't there 5 PS players?)

There are actually 10 practice squad players. Get to work on those other 7 names!

[SteelerOfDeVille]

what about LS?

in included him... got a whole couple of sentences dedicated to him - lol

ST (3) - Boswell, Berry, Hoba (drafting him in the 6ths means he's making the roster or you look like idiots. Could warren also stick in a transition year? possible, but, unlikely)

[SteelerOfDeVille]

There are actually 10 practice squad players. Get to work on those other 7 names!

LMAO... waaaayyy too early.

[RuthlessBurgher]

An in depth look at the intricacies of the Pittsburgh Steelers current roster

Fans of all NFL teams often see the players as nearly members of their own families, and the Steelers are certainly no exception. But there are some interesting details hidden in the Pittsburgh Roster than might make it stand out from the rest of the league.

by Mike Frazer

Jun 29, 2017, 7:00am EDT



Remember when the Steelers’ defensive starters averaged 30 years of age?

That was 2010. Two of those starters remain: cornerback William Gay, who was one of the five who had not yet reached 30. The other is ageless linebacker James Harrison. Of the 11 defensive starters that year, six were 30 or older.

Fast forward to 2017, and the Steelers have seven players — starter or otherwise — who are 30 or older. The average age across the entire team is 25.5, though that number will surely go up some when the roster is trimmed from 90 to 53. Still, it’s no secret they’ve gotten younger in the intervening years. But there are other statistics among this roster that are equally interesting.


Loyalty Is Still Big in Pittsburgh

Of the 48 players currently on the roster who were selected in the NFL Draft, 35 were drafted by the Steelers. Two — Gay, and tight end David Johnson — left the team and returned. Sixty-two players were drafted or originally acquired by the Steelers, 33 of whom have at least one full year with the team. Twenty of those 62 players have been with the team for at least three years.


Homegrown Depth

The Steelers have 42 players on their roster who arrived in the NFL as undrafted free agents. Of those 42 players, more than half — 23 — signed their first NFL contracts with the Steelers. Nine of them have been with the team for at least a year already, and eight of those have started at least one game. Among those nine are four current or long-time starters: linebacker James Harrison, guard Ramon Foster, fullback Roosevelt Nix and punter Jordan Berry.


Recycled Talent

Ironically, the two highest-drafted players on the Pittsburgh roster right now were not drafted by the Steelers: receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, originally drafted number seven overall by the Raiders in 2009; and Tyson Alualu, who was taken by the Jacksonville Jaguars with the 10th overall pick in 2011. The two, combined, will cost the Steelers less than $4 million in 2017, despite their pedigrees.


Diamonds in the Rough

Of the Steelers’ 25 presumed, opening-day starters (not including kick and punt returners), 13 were drafted by the Steelers in the first four rounds. That means 12 of 25 -- 44 percent of all starters — were acquired via other means. Cornerback Ross Cockrell was selected by the Buffalo Bills and later acquired by the Steelers after being released by Buffalo, and safety Mike Mitchell joined the team as a free agent when his rookie contract with the Carolina Panthers expired. All-Pro receiver Antonio Brown, tight end Jesse James, linebacker Vince Williams and long snapper Colin Holba were drafted after round four. Harrison, Foster, Berry and Nix were chosen by the Steelers as undrafted free agents, while kicker Chris Boswell and offensive tackle Alejandro Villanueva were picked up as journeyman free agents.


Equal Opportunity Employer

Despite the roster getting considerably younger since 2011, it’s not entirely made up of youngsters. Consider this: when the oldest player on the roster, James Harrison, was born on May 4, 1978, the Steelers had only collected two of their record six Super Bowl victories, Hall-of-Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw was in his prime and Chuck Noll had completed the ninth of his 23 years as the team’s head coach. When guard Christian Brown, the youngest player on the team, was born on February 6, 1997, the Steelers were 4-1 in the Super Bowl, current Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was a few months away from starting high school and Bill Cowher was already a five-year veteran as head coach. The age difference between the two is nearly 19 years.

https://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/pittsburgh-steelers-nfl-features-news-blog-long-form/2017/6/29/15885074/pittsburgh-steelers-current-roster-full-interesting-statistics-analysis-nfl-rooneys

[RuthlessBurgher]

Prior to the first preseason game, I'll go with the following 53 man roster prediction:

QB-(3)
Ben Roethlisberger
Landry Jones
Joshua Dobbs

RB-(4)
Le'Veon Bell
James Conner
Fitzgerald Touissant
Knile Davis

FB-(1)
Roosevelt Nix

WR-(6)
Antonio Brown
Martavis Bryant
Eli Rogers
Juju Smith-Schuster
Justin Hunter
Sammie Coates

TE-(3)
Jesse James
Xavier Grimble
David Johnson

OL-(8 )
Alejandro Villanueva
Ramon Foster
Maurkice Pouncey
David DeCastro
Marcus Gilbert
Jerald Hawkins
B.J. Finney
Chris Hubbard

DL-(6)
Cameron Heyward
Javon Hargrave
Stephon Tuitt
Tyson Alualu
L.T. Walton
Johnny Maxey

OLB-(5)
Bud Dupree
T.J. Watt
James Harrison
Anthony Chickillo
Arthur Moats

ILB-(4)
Ryan Shazier
Vince Williams
Tyler Matakevich
L.J. Fort

CB-(6)
Artie Burns
Ross Cockrell
William Gay
Coty Sensabaugh
Cam Sutton
Mike Hilton

S-(4)
Sean Davis
Mike Mitchell
Robert Golden
Jordan Dangerfield

K-(1)
Chris Boswell

P-(1)
Jordan Berry

LS-(1)
Colin Holba

Practice Squad-(10)
RB Terrell Watson
WR DeMarcus Ayers
TE Phazahn Odom
OL Ethan Cooper
OL Brian Mihalik
DL Roy Philon
LB Keion Adams
CB Brian Allen
CB Senquez Golson
S Jacob Hagen

My 53rd and final slot boiled down to a decision over whether to keep a 4th RB or keep Steven Johnson as a 5th ILB. These types of decisions typically boil down to what the ST coach is looking for, and although Steven Johnson would contribute to our special teams, I thought Knile Davis would bring more as our primary kick returner, which has been a weakness for us in recent seasons, and I figure that Arthur Moats could offer depth at either outside or inside backer if need be.

Darrius Hayward-Bey was a tough cut considering his ST contributions, ability to fill in at wideout whenever his number has been called, and his reputation as a leader in the locker room, but others had more long-term upside.

Hopefully DeMarcus Ayers will be able stick on the practice squad. If another team tries to poach him, we might decide to sacrifice a veteran on this 53 man roster in order to promote him and keep him for the future.

Big Dan McCullers time in black and gold came to an end as L.T. Walton has shown the versatility to contribute anywhere along the DL. If Alualu is able to back up both Heyward and Tuitt, then Walton can be NT2 as well as DE4.

It's tough to give up on a recent 2nd round pick, but if his former college teammate Mike Hilton is out there showing everything we though Golson could be, then you simply have to keep Hilton and then hope that Golson (who most recent injury should not warrant a spot on I.R. unlike the last 2 seasons) accepts a spot on the practice squad.

I had two of our 2017 draft picks, CB Brian Allen and OLB Keion Adams, starting out their NFL careers on the practice squad. Both show some promise for the future, but are likely not yet ready for prime time.

[Iron City Inc.]

Nice work Ruthless.Ii'm not going to critique however I will say if we cut Allen he will not get back to us. He will get claimed.

[Oviedo]

I think Ruthless is about 98% on target. IMO the 2% could be a couple of guys off the waiver wire or trade for Safety and ILB depth

[Eddie Spaghetti]

i would trade kieon adams for moats and brian hill for touisant and call it good

[Ghost]

In the way too early to mean anything dept; the first official depth chart was released today. Kniles Davis is listed as #1 kick returner so that may save his roster spot. Heyward-Bey is listed as #1 WR opposite Brown (Bryant & Coates are not listed at all).

Again, way too early, but I've read a couple of places that Keion Adams (7th round) is making a case for the 53. If he shows up in pre-season it may be hard to stash him on the PS.

[phillyesq]

In the way too early to mean anything dept; the first official depth chart was released today. Kniles Davis is listed as #1 kick returner so that may save his roster spot. Heyward-Bey is listed as #1 WR opposite Brown (Bryant & Coates are not listed at all).

Again, way too early, but I've read a couple of places that Keion Adams (7th round) is making a case for the 53. If he shows up in pre-season it may be hard to stash him on the PS.

I've read some good stuff about him as well. I could see him pushing either Moats or Chickillo off the roster. It also wouldn't shock me if Terrell Watson pushed Touissant.

What I do like seeing is that aside from safety and TE, there are going to be a lot of tough cuts. This roster has nice depth.

[SteelerMaine83]

Nice Ruth. I think the final 53 comes down to how much the team values Brian Allen and Keion Adams futures, because I think putting either on the PS is kissing them goodbye. Remember, we kept Al-Hajj Shabbas on the 53 for awhile because we liked his athleticism and length. Allen needs to learn a lot (like how to tackle), but you can't coach his physical attributes. Adams is clearly interesting, too. I think Toussaint, Moats and Dangerfield and maybe D. Johnson (Hubbard does more blocking TE time) are all looking over there shoulder.

Also, though I hate to say it, injuries will play a role. Somewhere in August we will likely lose someone for the year. That will open a spot. In addition, a vet cut somewhere else may bring us some S depth we can't pass up. If I'm making space in the 53, I make it for Allen, Adams and Cooper, in that order.