With a new coaching staff in place and a number of new faces on the roster, things seem to be wide open this offseason for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Of course, the big names are all seemingly safe, but jobs on the roster fringes appear to be up for grabs as the new coaching staff asserts itself and builds towards the style they want to play under first-year head coach Mike McCarthy.

That could put a number of veterans in tough spots when it comes to locking down roles.

With mandatory minicamp right around the corner, I see four veterans that are on the roster bubble due to position battles.

1. DL ESEZI OTOMEWO

A week ago I wouldn’t have felt this way, especially after I made the case earlier in the offseason that the Steelers needed to re-resign Otomewo for depth. Pittsburgh obviously did that, locking in the veteran defensive lineman on March 9 to another one-year deal.

Last season, Otomewo had a strong November and December, playing some key snaps for Pittsburgh due to injuries. He played a career-high 196 snaps last season and earned praise from teammates and coaches. After re-signing in the offseason, it felt like the veteran would have a spot up front as a rotational defensive end. But then the Steelers re-signed veteran Dean Lowry, reuniting him with McCarthy in the process.

Lowry missed all of last season with a knee injury, but he’s healthy now and has familiarity with a number of the new coaches on staff. He can play all three positions up front, too, which could give him the upper hand. That could make life difficult for Otomewo.

It’s not a big position battle, but the battle for the final two defensive end spots will be fascinating to watch throughout the summer, depending on what happens with rookie Gabriel Rubio.

2. C RYAN MCCOLLUM

With Brock Hoffman’s signing, this makes life all that more difficult for Ryan McCollum in his bid for a roster spot in Pittsburgh. Though he’s been a solid backup center the last couple of seasons, stepping up in 2024 for the injured Zach Frazier and providing depth last season, McCollum is mainly a center only. He’s had some work at both guard positions in the preseason, but that was in 2023. He played four snaps at guard last season in the win over the Miami Dolphins, but that’s a small sample size.

Hoffman doesn’t have that small sample size, and has the experience in McCarthy’s scheme. Hoffman has 684 snaps at center and has 526 snaps at guard during his time in Dallas. Of those 1,210 snaps, 736 came during McCarthy’s tenure. That bodes well for the veteran.

That he can play both guard positions and center gives him the upper hand. Plus, he’s a true brawler up front and plays with an edge, something McCollum doesn’t seem to have. In a numbers crunch up front, it’s pretty easy to see — at least right now — McCarthy keeping Hoffman over McCollum.

3. RB KALEB JOHNSON

It’s hard to call running back Kaleb Johnson a veteran as a second-year player, but he fits here in this conversation. The path forward to a 53-man roster spot isn’t clear for the former third-round pick.

He had a very tough rookie season, gaining just 78 yards of total offense on 29 touches, and he was known more for a dreadful special teams gaffe than anything else last year. Now, he has a new coaching staff with no ties to him from last season, giving him a bit of an uphill battle.

Though it’s a clean slate, Johnson doesn’t provide much on special teams and doesn’t move the needle as a pass-catching back. That will hinder him as free agent signee Travis Homer is a special teams ace, and rookie seventh-round pick Eli Heidenreich has special teams abilities and is a dual-threat offensive weapon.

Johnson has earned some praise so far in OTAs, but he has an uphill battle ahead of him.

4. LS CHRISTIAN KUNTZ

You don’t want to see the Steelers change out two parts of the three-man operation in the kicking game, but Christian Kuntz has been shaky in recent years. He’s admitted as much on his own podcast, and now he has to deal with some competition in fellow Pittsburgh-area native Cal Adomitis.

The former Pitt standout signed with the Steelers’ practice squad late last season as Kuntz dealt with an injury. Kuntz battled through, but the Steelers held onto Adomitis and might take a long look at him under new special teams coordinator Danny Crossman.

I see a scenario in which the Steelers opt to go with the younger, cheaper option at long snapper in Adomitis in an attempt to get a slight upgrade, even if that means messing with Chris Boswell’s kicking operation a bit.