5 interesting decisions on Steelers initial 53-man depth chart

The Pittsburgh Steelers have cut their roster down to just 53 players, but there are more questions that now need to be answered on their initial depth chart.

The anticipation is finally over. As I anxiously sat at my computer refreshing Twitter yesterday until the cutdown deadline, the Pittsburgh Steelers finally made all the cuts they were required to in order to get their roster down to just 53 players.

While I agree with most of their decisions on players who made the squad, their initial 53-man depth chart leaves a lot of unanswered questions. Here are five interesting decisions the Steelers made on their initial depth chart prior to Week 1 of the regular season:

Steelers RB: Benny Snell over Anthony McFarland, Kalen Ballage

I can’t say that I’m completely shocked by the decision to insert Benny Snell Jr. ahead of both Anthony McFarland and Kalen Ballage, but it’s questionable, to say the least. I think that both McFarland and Ballage had good training camps, while Snell was sidelined for most of August and missed three preseason games.

Though Snell did suit up as the first-team running back in the preseason finale against the Carolina Panthers, I largely thought this was to give him added looks due to the fact that he missed the three weeks prior. However, it looks like the Steelers really view him as the number two running back.

I’ve got to be honest, here: I’ve seen next to nothing out of Benny Snell since he was drafted by the Steelers in 2019. He’s a slow plodding back who fights for extra yardage but never amounts to much. I’m surprised he’s listed as the RB2 prior to the start of Week 1, considering his time missed this summer.