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Steelers vs. Redskins: 15 players on the bubble in Monday's game

With only one more week before rosters must be trimmed from 90 men to 75, players only have so many opportunities left to keep their roster bubbles from bursting.

By SteelCityRoller
Justin K. Aller

On August 27th, the Pittsburgh Steelers like all other NFL teams must trim their off-season rosters from 90 players down to 75.  These 15 players must make the most of every snap against the Washington Redskins on Monday night to keep their names from winding up at the top of the first cut list.

RB: Alvester Alexander and Jeremy Wright

Alexander and Wright simply find themselves at the bottom of an already crowded depth chart.  Le'Veon Bell looks to be the starter.  LaRod Stephens-Howling is looking like the change-of-pace back to compliment Bell.  Isaac Redman, Jonathan Dwyer and Baron Batch seem to be competing for two - possibly even just one - roster spot, leaving little room for Alexander or Wright.

WR: Tyler Shaw, Derek Moye and Kashif Moore

The Steelers have a receiving room as crowded as their running back department.  With Antonio Brown, Emmanuel Sanders, Jerricho Cotchery and Markus Wheaton seemingly locked into roster spots, there may only be one or two possible spots remaining.  The team will test Justin Brown, J.D. Woods and Reggie Dunn to their limits, leaving little hope for the Shaw, Moye and Moore as time runs out. But don't sleep on Moye, who's biggest flaw seems to be numbers right now.

TE: Peter Tuitupou and Nathan Overbay

Neither man has been overly impressive in their Steelers debuts and will have a tough time competing with the veteran experience of Jamie McCoy, David Paulson and newly signed Michael Palmer.  The team will only keep three active tight ends for gameday if recent history holds true.  Heath Miller and Matt Spaeth are locks once each is healthy, and David Johnson is still trying to get on the field to remind everyone why the team re-signed him in the first place.

OL: Justin Cheadle, Chris Hubbard, D'Anthony Batiste and Joe Madsen

Cheadle suffered a significant injury shortly after the Giants game and is unlikely to return by cut time.  Hubbard, Batiste and Madsen are facing stiff competition in their respective departments.  Joe Long and Mike Farrell are the team's two most promising young tackles and will most likely duke it out until final cuts.  Mike Golic Jr. could also be a 75-man casualty.

DL: Brian Arnfelt

Despite having a decent showing while rookie Nicholas Williams was on the mend in preseason Week 1, Arnfelt has no room for error; especially if the team only keeps six defensive linemen.  Arnfelt not only has to beat out Williams, but also Alameda Ta'amu and Hebron Fangupo for not only roster consideration but the practice squad as well.

LB: Terence Garvin and Kion Wilson

All the inside linebackers looked good as Stevenson Sylvester sat out of the loss to the Giants, but the team can't keep them all.  The least impressive of the group were Garvin and Wilson.  If the team keeps five ILBs, the final spot could come down to Sylvester, Brian Rolle and Chris Carter.

DB: Ross Ventrone

Ventrone came to training camp as a special teams contributor and has seen no increase to his role.  He has also been hurt off-and-on through camp.  Da'Mon Cromartie-Smith has taken most of the snaps with Robert Golden as first backups to starters Troy Polamalu and Ryan Clark.  With Shamarko Thomas in the mix, the team may only keep four as opposed to last season.

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