I’m calling out all of the football fans who get hyped up for the return of football, only to find themselves scrolling social media in the second half of preseason games instead of watching the guys fighting for their football lives in front of maybe 3,000 people in the stadium.
I’ve been guilty of being that guy before, though these days I’m working on an article instead of watching every play intently by that point. After all, you guys care about the starters and the guys pushing the starters for playing time the most. We can catch up on the guys flirting with the roster bubble later.
Of course, the preseason doesn’t matter to football fans the same way it does to the players, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t an entertainment value still there for the fans who will take it. So, I throw out the challenge to you, Steelers fans, to watch these four players in the second half of the Week 2 preseason contest against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Most of these guys won’t be on the roster three weeks from now. Some you may never hear from again once the regular season starts. But they’ll entertain you on the football field Saturday night, and that ought to count for something.
Players on the Pittsburgh Steelers roster bubble to watch vs. Buccaneers
WR, Max Hurleman
Max Hurleman wasn’t on many fans’ radars before the first preseason contest. Wearing No. 34, most fans probably didn’t know he was a wide receiver either. But, he made his first impression count, hauling in two of his four targets for 29 yards and a score.
Of course, 26 of his yards came on one play, as he split two Jaguar defenders to pull in a difficult seam route catch from Skylar Thompson, setting up the Steelers for an end-of-half, go-ahead score. He followed that up on the next play by catching the 3-yard touchdown, bookmarking it with a backflip celebration.
Flippin' out 🙌#ForTheCelly | @Budlight pic.twitter.com/LadEJp5Qar
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) August 10, 2025
A college running back with Colgate and then Notre Dame, Hurleman looks like a gamer and has some fans and analysts buzzing about his chances to make the final 53-man roster. Those chances, ultimately, are slim for the undrafted rookie free agent.
He’ll need to log more than four special teams reps like he did against Jacksonville to have a shot at the roster. If he does that and makes a few more splash plays, anything is possible.
S, Sebastian Castro
After hauling in a one-handed interception at practice last week, Sebastian Castro had a quiet performance against the Jaguars. He finished the day with four tackles, playing 31 snaps on defense and 18 on special teams.
Fans obviously want to see a bit more splash out of Castro after they drummed up a mountain of hype for him after the Fitzpatrick-Ramsey trade. His time could come; just keep an eye out for No. 29 on the field, you’ll notice the good things he’s up to.
Castro didn’t set the world on fire in his preseason debut with the Steelers, but he’s still a fun player to keep an eye on. He remains the most likely undrafted free agent to make the final 53-man roster in my book.
READ MORE: Fearless boom-or-bust predictions for every Steelers 2025 draft pick
RB, Lew Nichols
Lew Nichols is one of the few running backs absolutely buried on the depth chart. Still, he’s the back who came away from the first game with more yards than any of them, getting 31 on just six carries.
His 14-yard run in the fourth quarter that helped set up the Steelers' game-sealing touchdown accounted for nearly half of his production, but he made the most of his opportunities without a doubt. The only back who received more carries was Kaleb Johnson, which doesn’t seem likely to repeat in Week 2.
Considering Nichols was the most productive back in Week 1, he ought to be in line for more carries in Week 2. He’ll need them as he auditions for a practice squad gig in Pittsburgh or to be sniped up by a tailback-needy team elsewhere in the league.
LB, Carson Bruener
No defender had more special team snaps, though Devin Harper also had 26, and no defender had more tackles than seventh-round pick Carson Bruener. The former Washington Husky picked up seven stops in his preseason debut, including a strong hit on the opening kickoff of the game.
Breuner and Harper played the same number of snaps as they are at the bottom of the depth chart at off-ball backer. Breuner had the slight advantage heading into camp and is pushing for Mark Robinson’s spot. Robinson played exclusively on defense, which seems to indicate some level of safety in his roster spot.
After Bruener’s debut, that could change. No. 44 was in the final picture of a lot of plays in the preseason opener, which could help him eat into that safety net Robinson is propped up by. Keep watching Bruener during the contest against Tampa, and you’ll follow through to the satisfying end of several plays throughout the night.