The Pittsburgh Steelers finalized their initial 53-man roster, but keeping four quarterbacks, Aaron Rodgers, Mason Rudolph, Will Howard, and Drew Allar, came with severe systemic trade-offs.
On a recent episode of the “Locked on Steelers” podcast, host Christopher Carter of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette sounded the alarm on how hoarding signal-callers has severely compromised positional depth across the rest of the team.
"If you keep four quarterbacks, it's going to leave some holes somewhere that you're going to have to fill," Carter explained. "And lo and behold, they kept four quarterbacks and there are some serious holes that got to be filled."
The structural crunch is felt most acutely on the offensive line and in the secondary. The Steelers
enter the regular season carrying just three active offensive tackles: starting left tackle Troy Fautanu, likely starting right tackle Dylan Cook, and rookie Max Iheanachor.
With Jack Driscoll relegated to short-term injured reserve, Pittsburgh lacks a true, proven swing tackle.
"You need Aaron Rodgers upright, and if you're having problems there, it's going to be rough," Carter warned, emphasizing how thin the line is should an injury force a non-tackle into emergency action.
The defensive side reflects identical vulnerabilities. Pittsburgh retained only three active safeties: Jaquan Brisker, Rayshawn Jenkins, and Robert Spears-Jennings.
DeShon Elliott’s placement on injured reserve leaves the secondary dangerously exposed to potential attrition, forcing the coaching staff to rely heavily on Jalen Ramsey taking snaps at safety.
"Safety is looking mighty thin right now," Carter noted. "And safety, if you don't think that's [an] important position, it crushed them last year when they didn't have safeties that they could rely upon."
Ultimately, devoting 7.5% of the active roster to the quarterback room leaves Mike McCarthy’s squad operating on a razor-thin wire. If injuries strike either edge of the line or deep in the secondary, Pittsburgh's quarterback luxury could turn into a season-altering liability.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Wire: Why carrying four QBs puts the Steelers roster in serious danger
