{"id":168013,"date":"2025-06-29T14:36:18","date_gmt":"2025-06-29T14:36:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/168013\/"},"modified":"2025-06-29T14:36:18","modified_gmt":"2025-06-29T14:36:18","slug":"deconstructing-the-steelers-2025-roster-inside-the-bubble","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/168013\/","title":{"rendered":"Deconstructing The Steelers 2025 Roster: Inside The Bubble"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bringing back an exercise<\/a>\u00a0I did ahead of the 2024 Pittsburgh Steelers season. With the team one month away from reporting to training camp, it\u2019s worth taking inventory of the Steelers\u2019 91-man roster (the team is carrying an extra player because of EDGE Julius Welschof\u2019s international exemption) and offering a framework of the odds that each player makes the 53-man roster.<\/p>\n

As our previous exercises outlined, there are a few caveats.<\/p>\n

\u2013 This percentage only refers to the odds the player makes the Steelers\u2019\u00a0initial 53-man roster.\u00a0It doesn\u2019t consider their practice squad odds. With a 16-man taxi squad (17 with the exemption), many players who don\u2019t have much chance to make the 53 will end up there. Keep that in mind when examining these percentages.<\/p>\n

\u2013 It doesn\u2019t consider or account for inevitable injuries. That will change the landscape of the Steelers\u2019 roster, but those are unpredictable and won\u2019t be factored in. What\u00a0will\u00a0be considered are potential trades and other roster moves to reshape the roster prior to Week 1.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Those who are listed with identical percentages are ranked in alphabetical order.<\/p>\n

Part One \u2013 The Longshots<\/a>
Part Two \u2013 Outside Looking In<\/a>
Part Three \u2013 Squarely On The Bubble\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

STEELERS INSIDE-LOOKING-OUT (56%-75% CHANCE OF MAKING 53 MAN ROSTER)<\/p>\n

P Cameron Johnston: 75%
WR Robert Woods: 70%
OT Calvin Anderson: 70%
WR Ben Skowronek: 66%
CB James Pierre: 60%
DL Isaiahh Loudermilk: 60%<\/p>\n

Cameron Johnston will enter camp as the favorite over Corliss Waitman even after missing nearly all of his 2024 season due to a freak knee injury. Pittsburgh signed him to a long-term deal for a reason. Still, he\u2019ll need to prove his health.<\/p>\n

The receivers on this list, Robert Woods and Ben Skowronek, could have even higher odds. Woods is a trusted veteran who can block and should fit well in the locker room. Skowronek carved out a solid role as a special teamer and big personnel run blocker. But the looming possibility of the Steelers adding a wide receiver by signing or trade could squeeze someone out of a spot, slightly reducing their odds.<\/p>\n

Anderson isn\u2019t an ideal No. 3 swing tackle, but he inked a two-year deal<\/a>, and as a veteran with experience, his odds are good. Pittsburgh\u2019s depth is poor overall.<\/p>\n

Pierre returned after a brief stint in Washington to continue playing well as a gunner. He\u2019s lower down the depth chart at cornerback. That\u2019s a good thing for the defense. Pierre shouldn\u2019t be the next man up, but moves Pierre down the depth chart. Right now, he\u2019s the No. 4 cornerback, and someone will have to make a move to bump him off the team.<\/p>\n

Loudermilk rounds out the group. Last year, he consistently beat out Dean Lowry for a helmet late in the season and re-signed to a cheap, one-year contract in free agency. His ceiling is low, and Loudermilk is just a rotational base end backup without much pass rush juice. There\u2019s plenty of competition to muddy the waters, and he\u2019ll have to earn his job. Just as Yahya Black and the others battling for the same spot must do, and I give Loudermilk only slightly stronger odds (60 vs 55 percent).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bringing back an exercise\u00a0I did ahead of the 2024 Pittsburgh Steelers season. With the team one month away…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":168014,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[5429,5849,22692,7,4109,5856,6,520,57,2360,5329,426],"class_list":{"0":"post-168013","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-ben-skowronek","9":"tag-calvin-anderson","10":"tag-cameron-johnston","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-isaiahh-loudermilk","13":"tag-james-pierre","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-pittsburgh","16":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","17":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","18":"tag-robert-woods","19":"tag-steelers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114767159906788577","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168013"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168013\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}