5 Steelers quickly losing leverage on 2021 roster spots

Steelers Chukwuma Okorafor

While his career hasn’t been anything special to this point, Chukwuma Okorafor was in a prime position to earn a big payday. He is entering a contract year and has been a consistent albeit mediocre right tackle when called into action. A switch to the left side seemed like a natural move given his deficiencies in run blocking, and a solid season from the former third-round pick could earn him a huge pay raise in 2022.

The preseason has not been kind to him though, as injuries and bad play in practice and the preseason have turned him into a huge question mark at this point. On top of this, fourth-round pick Dan Moore has strung together a strong stretch of practice and game tape so far. While he was an early loser in camp, his last few days of practice and the game against the Eagles stand out. As of now, he is one of the highest-rated rookie linemen in the league through the preseason according to PFF.

While this has been against lower competition, the Eagles have a notoriously deep defensive front seven. Even their backups present good matchups for a player like Moore. He rose to the occasion though, and there needs to be a serious question as to if he should earn playing time over Okorafor. While Moore will start the season as the backup, Okorafor has to be on a short leash heading into the season. That is a far cry from the solid season many thought he was in line for.

With camp just about halfway over, the team’s final roster and even practice squad are starting to get easy to predict. While some players have been pleasant surprises, others have been disappointing. Those that haven’t been great are quickly losing their chance of making the roster and playing a critical role for the team. These five Steelers are losing their roster leverage quickly and will need a big turnaround for the remainder of camp to get back to where they were.