The Pittsburgh Steelers put a bow on their preseason on Thursday night with a _________ Carolina Panthers. But the score of the fourth preseason game is irrelevant. This game is all about player evaluation as the Steelers prepare for final cuts. Every NFL team must trim their 90-man preseason roster to just 53 on Saturday and for the Steelers, there are fewer than 10 spots truly up for grabs. That makes what happened Thursday night even more important.
Here are our three big takeaways from the game.
Offensive line depth is a question
As good as the Steelers’ starting offensive line is, the backups were exposed on Thursday night. The Panthers reserves manhandled the Steelers offensive front, especially the tackles. On one drive the Steelers had three holding penalties on three consecutive players by three different players. Everyone needs to keep their fingers cross that there are no injuries to the starters this season.
No answers with the quarterback depth chart
Joshua Dobbs put together another lackluster performance and Devlin Hodges had his worst performance of the preseason. The only thing we can say with any certainty at this point is Mason Rudolph has done enough to be Ben Roethlisberger’s primary backup. But will the Steelers keep Dobbs knowing he’s a free agent after the 2020 season or do they roll with Hodges as a cheaper option?
Young linebackers keep the pressure on veterans
Once again linebackers Ulysees Gilbert III and Tuzar Skipper showed up for the Steelers defense. These two young men have been strong all through the preseason and didn’t let up on Thursday night. Gilbert had three tackles and a big blocked field goal in the first half and Skipper finished with eight tackles and two sacks.
