The Pittsburgh Steelers are trying to get back on a winning track in 2023. This team has somehow earned a record of 4-2 entering Week 8 of the 2023 season, but the numbers across the board show that they have grossly outperformed early expectations.
Though they have been winning football games in bizarre fashion, there are clearly some major weak links on the roster that are holding this team back from finding even more success. Some of these players have proven to be detrimental to the operation in Pittsburgh and they need to go.
With a few roster changes, the Steelers can start earning wins instead of getting them gift-wrapped from the opposing teams. However, these three players have been cancerous to the operation in Pittsburgh and they are no longer worthy of taking up roster spots. Here are three players who should be released ahead of Week 8.
3. CB Levi Wallace
Even with everything we have witnessed so far this season, there are plenty of Steelers fans who will still go to great lengths to defend the abysmal play of Levi Wallace. But not only should Wallace be benched because of his disastrous performance, there's no reason to even keep him around on the Steelers roster for the rest of the season.
In his first six games, Wallace has been credited with allowing a whopping 401 yards and 4 touchdowns in coverage, per Pro Football Reference. To put this into perspective, Wallace allowed just 123 yards and 1 TD in his first 7 starts in the NFL. These came when he was a rookie undrafted free agent with the Bills.
Wallace was a player who never had great traits to begin with, and as a poor athlete coming into the league, he couldn't afford to lose a step. Sadly, he has, and Wallace can no longer be entrusted with any sort of defensive responsibility.
The veteran cornerback doesn't possess special teams ability either, so there really isn't much incentive to keep him around on the roster at this point. Even in the event of injuries, the Steelers can still do better than the league's 103rd-ranked cornerback this year, via Pro Football Focus.