It's hard to be disappointed with how the Pittsburgh Steelers looked in their Week 1 preseason opener against the Green Bay Packers. Mike McCarthy's team had star performers on both sides of the football, and their offense looked explosive for the first time in recent memory.
But it's not all sunshine and rainbows for every member of the Steelers. There were a few players who either failed to stand out among the crowd or disappointed in the team's exhibition win.
With public training camp practices wrapped up, Week 2 of the NFL preseason will be a shot at redemption for those who struggled in the opener last week. These three Steelers are seeing their stock drop as they enter the team's Week 2 preseason game against the New York Jets, and they must rebound in a big way.
The Pittsburgh Steelers need bigger performances out of these three roster bubble players
Kaleb Johnson
Among all the optimism coming off the Steelers' Week 1 preseason win, Kaleb Johnson was a disappointment that stood out like a sore thumb. The second-year running back and 2025 third-round pick carried the ball just two times for three yards against the Packers.
Just as bad as his production was who it was coming against. Johnson didn't see the field until late in the third quarter, and the fact that he played firmly behind fellow running backs Lew Nichols and Travis Homer was telling.
After a dud Week 1 preseason performance, Johnson's job is hardly safe in Pittsburgh, and he'll need a tremendous bounce-back outing against the Jets this week just to get McCarthy and the coaching staff thinking about him again. Johnson is trending toward bust status fast, and he's got everything to prove on Friday night.
Riley Nowakowski
Riley Nowakowski caught a touchdown pass in his first NFL preseason game, and that's as good as anything we could ask for in a rookie fifth-round pick, right? In a sense, yes. But Nowakowski is still trending downward—and for some reasons beyond his control.
Nowakowski dropped a walk-in touchdown pass from quarterback Drew Allar. Thankfully, he was able to make up for this error with a TD snag late in the game. Ironically, these were his only two targets in Week 1 of the preseason.
Outside of his receiving production, the rookie fullback/tight end—who was primarily drafted to be a lead blocker—didn't do much in terms of blocking. Nowakowski earned a disappointing blocking grade of 48.7 in this contest, and the team's lack of rushing success speaks for itself. With a 47.8 overall PFF grade in Week 1 of the preseason($), Nowakowski was the third-lowest-graded player on the team.
But that's not the only thing tanking his stock. As Nowakowski failed to make a big impact, fellow tight end Robert Tonyan was excellent in his 19 snaps early in the game—earning a team-high 93.5 PFF grade after reeling in all four targets for 61 yards.
Nowakowski might still be on the inside looking out at the roster bubble, but he needs to start improving his stock if he wants a role on this team in 2026 and a helmet on game days.
Esezi Otomewo
With the Steelers having a crowded defensive line, the last thing a player can afford to do is go quiet when his D-line teammates stand out just a few weeks before roster cutdowns. This was the case for Esezi Otomewo in Week 1.
With rookie Gabriel Rubio showing off his impressive run-stopping chops and Yahya Black mixing in a few big plays in run defense, Otomewo went silent. It didn't help that he was even outplayed by reserve defensive lineman Anthony Goodlow, who recorded two pressures on just nine defensive snaps.
Otomewo is fighting to keep his Steelers career (and possibly his NFL career) alive entering Week 2 of the preseason, and he must do more to stand out and improve his stock with the team ahead of cutdowns.
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