While the Steelers’ 53-man roster picture is coming together, the Will Howard and Ryan McCollum injuries are muddying the water. When teams have injuries and IR or releasing is not an option, they sometimes have to carry excess positional numbers. Without clarity on Howard or McCollum’s status, it’s hard to say if Pittsburgh will have to do that.
While Will Howard—and thus Skylar Thompson—is the bigger topic, I’ll start with Ryan McCollum. McCollum entered the 2024 season as the backup center, only after Nate Herbig suffered a season-ending injury. In two games filling in for Zach Frazier, however, he seemingly solidified his status in that role.