Steelers’ Kenny Robinson a surprise among Monday roster cuts

The Pittsburgh Steelers made 10 more roster cuts on Monday as they work toward finalizing the final 53-man roster prior to Tuesday’s deadline. Among the cuts was safety Kenny Robinson — the biggest surprise to this point in the process.

Robinson signed with the team back in January after he’d been released by the Panthers, who drafted him in the fifth round of the 2020 NFL Draft. Robinson was the first player to be drafted out of the XFL, having played for the St. Louis Battlehawks coming out of college. He’d seen increased opportunities at safety following an absence from Minkah Fitzpatrick (personal reasons) and a lower-body injury to Tre Norwood that forced him to miss some time in practice.

Through the course of the preseason, Robinson’s most notable contributions came on special teams, where he saw snaps in all phases besides field goal attempts, ranking top-10 among all preseason participants in the league with a 90.0 PFF special teams grade. He and fellow safety Jalen Elliott, who was also released on Monday, both ranked top three in pass yards allowed in coverage among Steelers defenders this preseason.

Released along with Robinson was fellow safety Jalen Elliott, as well as LBs Tanner Muse and Toby Ndukwe, OL Le’Raven Clark and William Dunkle, CB Lavert Hill, DL Manny Jones, QB Tanner Morgan, and RB Darius Hagans.