6 Steelers veterans on the roster bubble ahead of 2021 camp

These six Steelers either had a role or were expected to take one on at some point in their career, but now, they find themselves squarely on the roster bubble.

The Steelers enter camp with more positions up for grabs than they are typically accustomed to. While veterans have a natural edge when entering camp due to their experience, all of that can change from an upstart rookie or futures player that begins to get some hype. Sometimes, this hype dies down quickly, but other times the player can stick. This comes at the cost of one of the aforementioned veterans.

Steelers have a history of open camp competitions

While the Steelers tend to favor veterans over young options, it hasn’t stopped them from keeping underdogs and moving on from the experienced options. Players like Devlin Hodges, Mike Hilton, and James Pierre all excelled enough in camp to unseat a veteran in some sort of way (Hodges’s talent compelled the team to trade third-string quarterback Josh Dobbs, granted). Whenever one of these players is kept though, it comes at the expense of a veteran typically. While most of the positions on the teams’ roster favor the veterans entering camp, new additions could threaten their roster spot. Here are the six Steelers veterans that are squarely on the roster bubble entering camp.

Ulysses Gilbert III

It is a stretch to call former sixth-round pick Ulysees Gilbert a veteran given his erratic play over the past two seasons, but considering the hype around him last season, he fits this list. Gilbert was an athletic prospect that the team was hoping to pair with Devin Bush down the road. This seemed to be a possibility sooner than later, as the then-rookie was dominant during the preseason and played well on special teams during his rookie year before ending the year on injured reserve.

Last year, there were talks that Gilbert would make the leap to starter and eventually replace Vince Williams. Instead, the same back injury that nagged him his rookie season came back to derail his second season. Now, with the addition of Buddy Johnson, Gilbert finds himself buried on the depth chart. He not only needs to prove that he can stay healthy, but that he still has that starting potential that he flashed during year one.