Anthony McFarland active Week 2 vs. the Broncos

The Pittsburgh Steelers have released their inactives for their Week 2 game against the Denver Broncos. With one players ruled out due to injury, the list is made up of 4 healthy scratches. With new roster rules for 2020, teams will only need to have 5 players inactive each game unless they elevate any players from the practice squad. After messing up their inactive list last week where they had one more player on the list than needed, the Steelers have corrected their error and only have 5 players inactive for Week 2.

All-Pro guard David DeCastro once again was unable to practice this week and was ruled out on Friday. Much like last week, the focus now turns to Week 3 for DeCastro to see if his knee can be ready for next Sunday against the Texans. Steelers’ guard Stefen Wisniewski is not on the inactive list as he was placed on the Reserve/Injured List and Derwin Gray was promoted from the practice squad.

With no other players even having an injury status, the remaining spots on the inactive list are filled with healthy players. It appears a few players who will become regulars on list are Josh Dobbs, Carlos Davis, and Zach Gentry. For obvious reasons, Dobbs should be inactive each week as the alternative is something which I will not even mention. For Davis, he would need one of the five active defensive linemen to have an injury for him to have a helmet. In the case of Zach Gentry, it would also come down to injury, or for the Steelers to have a game plan where they would use a lot of tight ends.

The biggest question for who would be the final person on the inactive list for the Steelers in Week 2 came down between rookie running back Anthony McFarland Jr. and Ulysees Gilbert III. Unsure which way the Steelers would go, McFarland ended up getting the helmet for Week 2 while Gilbert is on the inactive list. Whether or not this is the way the Steelers will go each week remains to be seen. But for this week, McFarland is the player who gets to show their skills for the Steelers against the Denver Broncos.

As for the Broncos’ inactives, they can be seen below. Since Denver elevated two players off of their practice squad yesterday, their inactive list has seven players. Most notable is running back Phillip Lindsay who was already ruled out for the game previously. Additionally, former Steelers linebacker Anthony Chickillo who signed this week is inactive. Missing from the list is wide receiver Courtland Sutton who will play for the Broncos in Week 2.