PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers open the 2024 NFL regular season at the Atlanta Falcons on Sept. 8 at Mercedes Benz Stadium. And when they finally take the field, the Steelers will start their fourth different quarterback since Ben Roethlisberger retired in 2021.
Coach Mike Tomlin hasn't named a starting between Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, though he's maintained Wilson enters training camp in "pole position" for the job and appears poised to land the job barring a camp surprise.
There are more pressing battles, though, than the quarterback position. The team has a void at No. 2 wide receiver behind George Pickens, and though the Steelers elected to sign Cameron Sutton after his release from Detroit, his eight-game suspension still leaves the team searching for yet another slot corner. And while the coaching staff, including new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, has high hopes for first-round pick Troy Fautanu, he's in for a battle with Dan Moore Jr. for the starting right tackle job as 2023 first-round pick Broderick Jones moves to the left.
Here is the 53-man roster projection:
QUARTERBACKS (3): Russell Wilson, Justin Fields, Kyle Allen
The drama for the quarterback room isn't in who will make the roster, but in how they'll be ordered on the depth chart. And even then, the drama appears to be minimal entering training camp. All signs point to Wilson starting when the Steelers open the season in Atlanta, though Tomlin said Fields will be given the opportunity to compete when appropriate. So far, though, it appears training camp won't likely be a serious battleground between the pair.
RUNNING BACKS (3): Najee Harris, Jaylen Warren, Cordarrelle Patterson
The Steelers declined Harris' fifth-year option earlier this offseason, setting up for a crucial year for Harris in Smith's run-heavy offense before he hits the market. Warren figures to build on a strong 2023 to give the Steelers one of the best running back tandems in the league, and swiss-army knife Patterson rounds out the group as a versatile offensive weapon capable of more than just returning kicks.
WIDE RECEIVERS (5): George Pickens, Calvin Austin III, Van Jefferson, Roman Wilson, Scotty Miller
With the offseason trade of Diontae Johnson, the Steelers' wide receiver room is undoubtedly top-heavy. The team drafted Wilson in April and signed receivers with experience playing in Smith's offense including Jefferson and Miller, but there's still a lack of depth behind Pickens. The Steelers likely need to add another receiver during training camp -- or hope that Austin has a breakout camp after a tepid start to his NFL career.
TIGHT ENDS (4): Pat Freiermuth, Darnell Washington, Connor Heyward, MyCole Pruitt
Smith loves tight ends, and because of that, expect the team to carry four tight ends, including jack-of-all-trades Heyward and veteran Pruitt. Freiermuth battled soft tissue injuries last season, but he's a strong breakout candidate in the new scheme. Washington, too, is positioned to show he's more than a big-bodied blocker.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN (9): Dan Moore Jr., Broderick Jones, James Daniels, Troy Fautanu, Isaac Seumalo, Zach Frazier, Nate Herbig, Mason McCormick, Spencer Anderson
The Steelers used three of their first four picks to address the offensive line in April's draft, adding Fautanu, Frazier and McCormick, continuing the multi-year rebuild of the trenches. Though Herbig got the most work as the first-team center during offseason workouts, Frazier still appears the most likely Week 1 starter. Though the team moved on from Chuks Okorafor in the offseason, drafting Fautanu gives them more solid depth at tackle, and Herbig, McCormick and Anderson provide solid interior depth behind Seumalo and Daniels.
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN (7): Cameron Heyward, Larry Ogunjobi, Keeanu Benton, Dean Lowry, Logan Lee, Isaiahh Loudermilk, Montravius Adams
Though Heyward's future is somewhat up in the air as the defensive captain seeks a contract extension, he's still the anchor of the group and a leader of the defense. Behind him, though, Benton is poised to be the future of the defensive line, and he got a dose of being in a leadership role in Heyward's absence during some of the team's offseason program. With the free agency addition of Lowry and the drafting of Lee, one cut candidate from this group is 2022 third-round pick DeMarvin Leal, who was a healthy scratch in four of the last five regular season games of the 2023 season despite starting three games immediately after Heyward's Week 1 injury.
LINEBACKERS (8): T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, Nick Herbig, Elandon Roberts, Patrick Queen, Payton Wilson, Cole Holcomb, Mark Robinson, Tyler Matakevich
The biggest question among the Steelers' linebackers is the health and return date of Holcomb, who suffered a catastrophic, season-ending knee injury in Week 9 last season. Though the organization has outwardly expressed optimism about Holcomb's return, they've been vague about the exact timetable. He hasn't participated in team or individual drills since the injury and resulting surgery, but during minicamp, Tomlin said he was optimistic Holcomb would return during training camp. But even with Holcomb's status up in the air, the additions of Queen and Wilson make the ILB group a much more solid -- and healthy -- group than the one at the conclusion of the 2023 season.
One other thing to keep an eye on is the return of Matakevich, who signed a one-year deal just before training camp. Matakevich is a special teams ace and former team captain for the Buffalo Bills, where he spent the last four seasons after being drafted in the seventh round by the Steelers in 2016. Matakevich is undoubtedly fighting for a roster spot, and he could bump Robinson out of a job.
CORNERBACKS (6): Donte Jackson, Joey Porter Jr., Darius Rush, Anthony Averett, Cory Trice Jr., Cameron Sutton
This group is still very much a work-in-progress entering training camp. Though the team signed Sutton following his release from Detroit to primarily play in the slot, Sutton's eight-game suspension means the team still has to prioritize the position. Since letting Mike Hilton walk in free agency three years ago, the Steelers haven't found a consistent slot corner, cycling through Arthur Maulet and Chandon Sullivan in the last three seasons. Former Jaguars 2022 fourth-round pick Josiah Scott could be a candidate to fill the starting slot corner job in Sutton's absence. The team is also thin at outside corner behind Jackson and Porter Jr., but Trice, still rehabbing from an ACL torn in last year's training camp, could develop into a depth piece.
SAFETIES (5): Minkah Fitzpatrick, DeShon Elliott, Damontae Kazee, Miles Killebrew, Ryan Watts
Like the inside linebacker group, the safety position is also in a much healthier place entering the 2024 season. Not only is Kazee back after ending the regular season with a three-game suspension, but the team also added Elliott in free agency in a move that should free up Fitzpatrick to return to his ball-hawking ways after not recording an interception in 2023.
SPECIALISTS (3): Chris Boswell, Cameron Johnston, Christian Kuntz
While the Steelers kept two-thirds of last year's specialists in Boswell and Kuntz, the team moved on from punter Pressley Harvin after three inconsistent seasons and signed former Texans punter Johnston in free agency. The Aussie has a career average of 47.3 yards per punt since entering the league in 2018 with the Eagles -- that's a nearly four-yard increase from Harvin's career average of 43.7 yards per punt.