Tim Benz: This position group will result in the hardest cuts for Steelers coaches

Heading into Thursday night’s preseason finale in Atlanta, one good thing about the 2023 Steelers is that it doesn’t appear there will be many players kept on cutdown day (Aug. 29) just to round out the depth chart.

That hasn’t necessarily been the case at the bottom of the roster in recent years. This is why roster cuts are likely going to be more difficult for Mike Tomlin and the rest of his coaching staff this season.

It’s going to be particularly tough along the defensive line. That appears to be a place where the Steelers have a lot of depth, and the depth is legitimate.

“There’s going to be some tough decisions (that) have to be made because I think we may lose a guy that we know can play in the NFL,” defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said.

That’s nearly assured. Because right now, the Steelers have eight defensive players with NFL experience, vying for seven likely spots and maybe six game-day jerseys.

At least that’s how the Steelers aligned last year to open 2022. Cam Heyward and Larry Ogunjobi started the game in Cincinnati. Chris Wormley, Tyson Alualu, Montravius Adams and DeMarvin Leal came off the bench. Isaiahh Loudermilk was a seventh lineman who made the team but was inactive.

Now, Heyward and Ogunjobi are back as starters. Adams, Leal and Loudermilk remain. Second-round draft pick Keeanu Benton and free-agent signees Armon Watts and Breiden Fehoko round out the top-eight defensive line talent.

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As recent second-day picks over the last two years, Benton and Leal are both going to make the team. So that’s four spots gone, leaving Watts, Fehoko, Loudermilk and Adams to battle it out for the other three positions.

Not to mention guys such as Manny Jones, Jonathan Marshall and James Nyamwaya, who have all had moments in camp or the preseason but are all likely easy fits onto the practice squad.

Underscoring Austin’s point, Fehoko, Adams, Loudermilk and Watts all have enough NFL experience and/or upside that they should wind up on another roster if they are cut.

“The 11th-hour push is there in games such as these for those vying for a limited number of spots. I’m thankful that we have tough decisions. That just means that we’ve had a good 90 (to start camp),” Tomlin said Tuesday. “There are going to be some tough decisions. Not only along the front but in a lot of places.”

Personally, I think Watts is in. Two years ago, he had five sacks in Minnesota. He can’t duplicate the often injured Ogunjobi (6-foot-3, 306 pounds), but Watts (6-foot-5, 307) can replicate him. They have a similar build. He was disruptive with a pair of quarterback hits in the preseason opener at Tampa Bay.

“I feel that I am able to be versatile,” the 27-year-old Watts said Tuesday. “I have had some success rushing the passer. The more I can show that and contribute to the team, the better off I am.”

Fehoko can probably get after the passer more often if he is asked to do so. But he excels as a pure run-stopper. So it is no surprise he seems happy this final preseason game is in Atlanta. The Falcons ran the ball 559 times last year, the most of any team in the NFL.

“I don’t expect them to come out and throw darts and air raid us,” Fehoko said this week. “This will be a true, gritty test. Kind of like how team-run (practice) is during training camp. The interior guys are excited to get some action every down now. Not just first and second down.”

Adams is usually the starting nose tackle. But with Ogunjobi out last week against the Buffalo Bills, he also got the front-line reps next to Heyward as the other interior lineman in sub-packages. This was likely by design from the Steelers coaches to see how much of that work could fall on his plate beyond just nose tackle duties.

“The funny thing is, when I got here, I hadn’t played nose since college (Auburn),” Adams said. “All I had played was the ‘three’ (technique). So I’m still pretty comfortable at three.”

As for Loudermilk, he is entering his third year, totaling 30 tackles in 26 games with one sack and five starts. At 6-foot-7, 293 pounds, the Steelers still seem fond of his frame and potential, even having him line up as a standup outside linebacker at training camp occasionally as Leal has done.

“I still feel like there is a lot for me to show,” Loudermilk said. “For me, it’s to go out and play physical and fast, don’t think a whole lot. Go out and make plays. There is always doing your job. But can I go out and make plays? I feel like I can… This next game for me is going to be huge.”

Strangely, it may be Benton and Leal who determine the final roster spots for Loudermilk, Adams and Fehoko as much as those players themselves. If Benton is viewed as elite enough as a run stuffer on the nose that he gets rookie reps in that spot as he is brought along slowly to learn the defensive end/inside rush positions, maybe it is Fehoko who is deemed expendable.

If Leal is deemed healthy enough and versatile enough to be a third end/fifth outside linebacker, then maybe Loudermilk is the odd man out.

Or maybe the Steelers will look at Adams and see $2.5 million in cap savings if he is let go for the others to absorb his job. That was my bet last week. This week, I’m not so sure.

The only thing I am sure about is that Austin is 100% right. The Steelers are going to lose a quality NFL player on cutdown day.

But at least they’ll be keeping seven. That’s not a bad place for a defense to start.