It has been an eventful preseason for the Steelers, and here are the three biggest losers from the team’s offseason program.
The Steelers have been busy over the past few weeks through practice and preseason games. While there have been quite a few feel-good stories and surprise players, others have fallen flat on their faces. While they may still ultimately be on the roster and in place to start, it wasn’t a good few weeks for these players.
These three Steelers struggled as a whole during training camp and throughout the preseason. They are the biggest losers from the team, and now they represent huge question marks going forward. Each of these players could prove to be liabilities down the road. Given their struggles so far, these three players had the worst offseason on the roster.
Moore failed to take a step forward
A player I was extremely high on entering camp, Dan Moore was a surprising story during his rookie year. Taken in the fourth round of the draft, Moore has a strong camp that ended up turning into a starting gig. He had his ups and downs as you would expect, but over the last few weeks, he looked extremely solid.
Early reports were strong from Moore out of camp, as he looked like he was progressing nicely. Then the preseason games came, and Moore was a turnstile in each performance. While a lot of this seems to be the line as a whole struggling with a new system, Moore looks like he has regressed. I do think he has the chance to turn this around during the season, but it has been a bad offseason for Moore so far.
Green has looked unplayable
Another rising sophomore, Kendrick Green had far less hope around him than Moore. While Green also had his ups and downs during the early portion of the season, he faltered down the stretch and looked horrible. He was replaced in the offseason by Mason Cole and was penciled in as the top swing interior lineman.
Like Moore, Green has seemingly regressed. This is quite the feat considering how badly he played as a rookie. Green is only hanging on to a roster spot due to his draft pedigree and little else. He has been abysmal during camp, and his NFL career as a whole needs to be in question due to how bad he has played.
Bush hasn’t returned to form
One of the big questions this offseason was if Devin Bush was going to be able to return to form. The former top-ten pick flashed early as a rookie and early in his second season before getting injured. He was a wreck last year, and everyone was hoping that he would get closer to his old self another year removed from his injury.
That hasn’t been the case so far, as Bush has still struggled while on the field. The issue is less his athleticism and more his instincts. He struggles to read plays, and now that his explosiveness has been capped due to his injury, it is hard to justify keeping him on the field. Bush has continued to struggle, and his starting spot on the team isn’t secure.
The Steelers got some strong performances in the preseason. Unfortunately for these three players, they have continued to struggle and don’t look like viable players. While their roster spot may be secure, these players have posed a lot of questions as opposed to answers during the offseason.