Steelers Depth Chart: Few surprises heading into Preseason Week 1

The Pittsburgh Steelers are well over a week into training camp, and are preparing for their first preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Heinz Field this Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET. One of the moving parts for all NFL teams starting prior to Week 1 of the preseason, and every week after that, is to release a depth chart.

Preseason depth charts should be taken with a giant grain of salt, but there are a few things we can glean from the first depth chart of 2019. But before getting into the details, it should be noted Mike Tomlin openly has stated he doesn’t take these charts too seriously. In fact, it is more of a formality than a real gauge of a player’s progress with the team thus far.

With that said, let’s get to the depth chart (you can see the complete depth chart by clicking HERE):

Offense

• Ryan Switzer finds himself above Eli Rogers on the opening depth chart.
• Jerald Hawkins finds himself buried behind both Chukwuma Okorafor and Zach Banner on the tackle depth chart. Matt Feiler is the leader in the clubhouse at right tackle.
• Joshua Dobbs is listed as QB2, with Mason Rudolph at QB3 and Devlin Hodges as QB4.
• Donte Moncrief is the starting WR opposite JuJu Smith-Schuster with James Washington at the WR3 spot.

Defense

• Rookie Isaiah Buggs is currently behind Lavon Hooks as defensive end depth.
• Mark Barron and Vince Williams are listed as the starters at the inside linebacker spots, with Devin Bush and Tyler Matakevich as primary subs.
• Brian Allen, who is listed on the roster as CB/S, is listed ahead of rookie Justin Layne as CB2 behind Joe Haden.
• Marcus Allen and Jordan Dangerfield are considered the first line of defense behind Terrell Edmunds and Sean Davis.
• Mike Hilton is above Cameron Sutton as the nickel cornerback.

Specialists

• Jordan Berry and Chris Boswell are atop the depth chart at their positions.
• Ryan Switzer is listed as the primary return man, with Eli Rogers not listed as either Punt Returner or Kick Returner.
• Diontae Spencer is only listed as a punt returner, PR2, with JuJu Smith-Schuster as the back up kick returner.

Just to reiterate, the Steelers, and more importantly Mike Tomlin, don’t take the first preseason game depth chart very serious. However, Mike Tomlin will address the media Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. ET and will likely discuss this depth chart more in depth at that time.

Stay tuned to BTSC for the latest news and notes surrounding the black-and-gold as they prepare for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Heinz Field this Friday.