Steelers A to Z: Jonathan Marshall has stuck around, but can he find a way to crack rotation?

Editor’s note: From now until the first practice of training camp at Saint Vincent College, TribLive is running through the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 90-man roster, looking at each player and assessing his outlook for the 2024 season. The breakdown will run in alphabetical order with at least two players each day between June 14 and July 25. Contract data courtesy spotrac.com.

DT JONATHAN MARSHALL

Experience/age: 4 regular-season NFL games, turns 27 in September

Contract status: $985,00 cap hit if he makes the team in 2024

The past: A starter at nose tackle as a senior at Arkansas, Marshall was a sixth-round pick of the New York Jets in 2021. Marshall made the 53-man roster out of his rookie training camp and was in uniform four times as a rookie. He played 76 defensive snaps (and one on special teams) that season, making two tackles (one solo) with a QB hit. At 6-foot-3, 310 pounds, Marshall played at various spots on the Jets’ front during his cameos.

Marshall did not make the active roster the following preseason but was signed to New York’s practice squad and spent all season on it until the Steelers signed him off of it to their active roster that December. He did not appear in any of the Steelers’ final four games that season, though, and did not make the 53-man at the end of last year’s training camp.

Marshall spent all of last season on the practice squad and was brought back as soon as it ended via a reserve/future contract.

#ProHog Jonathan Marshall with the swim move and sack for a SAFETY! #WPS pic.twitter.com/kEewfhb3Oc

— Sidelines - Arkansas (@SSN_Arkansas) August 15, 2021

2024 outlook: The Steelers have shown they think highly of Marshall’s potential on multiple occasions the past 19 months, giving him a precious spot on the 53-man roster at one point and keeping him on the practice squad all throughout 18 weeks last season. They clearly believe he can provide “above the line” snaps if needed in a pinch.

The numbers game does Marshall no favors, however, in regards to his chances to make the active roster out of this camp and preseason. Emerging second-year talent Keeanu Benton and veterans Cameron Heyward, Larry Ogunjobi, Montravius Adams and Dean Lowry are entrenched on the d-line depth chart – although the injury histories attached to those veterans provides reason for why Marshall might be called upon. Marshall, though, is on the periphery of a group that includes veteran Breiden Fehoko and younger players with which the Steelers have invested more — DeMarvin Leal, Isaiahh Loudermilk, Logan Lee — jockeying for position on the Steelers’ defensive line. Odds are, Marshall again ends up in the practice-squad mix come Week 1.