Steelers injury report: David DeCastro out, Diontae Johnson in doubt

The Steelers head into Week One fairly healthy but will be without star guard David Decastro who is a big loss.

The Steelers head into week one with some injuries but it is not something they can’t recover from. Having lost Ben Roethlisberger for most of 2019, it is welcome to see only a few players on the injury report.

I also want to point out that the Steelers have not had to put any major contributors on IR; so, the Black & Gold are in a good spot.

OG David Decastro (Out) Knee

It is pretty safe to say that David Decastro will be out for Monday’s game against the Giants. He still hasn’t been given the “out” designation but it sounds like the Steelers’ most serious injury thus far. The fear is that he will be out a few weeks and that is never good for an offensive line in transition.

The good news is that the Steelers have a very competent backup in Stephen Wisniewski who will get the start at right guard for the Steelers. It also looks like they will have three offensive linemen dressed as backups this year instead of the usual two. Kevin Dotson will probably be the next man up at guard if there is an injury to the position.

This will probably give JC Hassenauer his first helmet with the Steelers. I think he will be the top backup at center. Chukwoma Okorafor will also be ready to take over in case a tackle gets injured.

WR Diontae Johnson (Questionable) Foot

This is an injury that we still don’t know is how serious. It will certainly be worth keeping up with to see if he can practice Friday and Saturday. I don’t think its that serious that he would miss more than one game.

Not having Diontae Johnson could be bad for the Steelers as I would rate him as their #2 receiver behind JuJu Smith-Schuster. The Steelers are only carrying five receivers on their active roster and Ray-Ray McCloud sounds like more of a return specialist.

It will be interesting to see if a receiver is brought up to the roster from the practice squad to add depth at receiver on game day. The rules are most relaxed in the past about that because of the coronavirus.

Conclusion

The Steelers do have some key players injured but the number of players injured doesn’t concern me. I also think Diontae Johnson and David Decastro are healthy enough they can bounce back and have a productive season with the Black & Gold.

The good news is the defense is healthy and ready to go and I expect them to be the leaders for this team. I am also encouraged that Ben is healthy and ready to go.

I am ready for some FOOTBALL!