The Steelers’ first preseason win did more than give them a box score result to file away. It also sharpened a handful of roster fights that are still very much alive as Aug. 30 at 6 p.m. ET creeps closer and the 53-man cutdown deadline starts looming over every snap.
A few jobs already feel like they’re tilting in one direction. Others are still wide open, and Thursday’s preseason showdown with the Jets should tell us plenty about who’s moving up, who’s hanging on, and who’s sliding toward the edge.
The clearest battle on the board remains the backup quarterback race, where Mason Rudolph and Will Howard are both trying to claim the No. 2 job behind Aaron Rodgers. That has been the defining Steelers subplot all offseason.
Howard got opportunities to separate himself during OTAs, but the sense around this competition is that it’s Rudolph’s spot to lose. Both quarterbacks were efficient against Green Bay, and Howard now gets a chance to make his case with Rudolph sitting out this week against New York.
At wide receiver, Roman Wilson looks like he’s finally becoming the player Pittsburgh thought it drafted at No. 84 overall in 2024. After two quiet seasons, he has turned himself into the clear third receiver and has reportedly “earned” Rodgers’ trust (h/t Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated).
Germie Bernard is making that lane a little more crowded, though. In his strong debut against the Packers, he caught four of five targets for 51 yards and showed the kind of after-the-catch burst that made him such an intriguing college prospect.
Unless Bernard puts together a real breakout, Wilson only needs to keep doing what he’s doing.
The right guard competition also appears to be narrowing. Spencer Anderson got the start in the preseason opener, which puts him in the lead for the job.
If he starts again, or even gets the night off against the Jets, that would be a strong sign the Steelers are ready to lock him in. Anderson enters his fourth year in Pittsburgh and brings more familiarity with the organization than either of the challengers.
Brock Hoffman has ties to Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy from their overlapping Dallas Cowboys days, but he’s mainly a center, and asking him to make a full-time move is a gamble with Aaron Rodgers under center. Gennings Dunker is still the future-facing option, but he’s been working mostly with the third-team offense and looks behind for now.
He’s also making the shift to guard after being a right tackle, so a redshirt year is on the table.
Along the defensive line, Gabriel Rubio, Dean Lowry, and Esezi Otomewo are battling for rotation spots in a crowded group. Lowry’s long connection to McCarthy matters, but it can’t be the only thing keeping him in the mix.
Rubio has already made some noise as a sixth-round rookie, finishing with six tackles in Pittsburgh’s 28-9 win over the Packers. Otomewo is still hanging around as well, which only adds to the pressure on Lowry to keep pace with the younger bodies around him.
The running back depth chart has another mess to sort through, and Kaleb Johnson is the name under the most pressure. The Steelers appear to be losing patience with the former Iowa star, who now looks like he’s fighting for his roster life.
That’s a sharp turn for a player Pittsburgh spent a third-round pick on just 16 months ago. Lew Nichols has made a strong push after being brought back on a reserve/future contract in January, building on an impressive 2025 preseason with another solid summer.
He led the Steelers in rushing against Green Bay and accounted for half of the team’s ground production. Travis Homer is also in the mix, and while he has logged just seven carries since 2023, his special teams value, pass protection, and eight years of experience give him a different kind of edge.
Nichols may be the cleanest runner of the group, and Homer brings something Johnson and Nichols do not. Right now, both seem to be closing on Johnson, who is listed as the RB3 on the Steelers’ unofficial depth chart and sitting on very thin ice.
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