4 players the Steelers must make room for on the final 53

2. Isaiahh Loudermilk has more still to offer

I've got to be honest, I was hoping to see more from Isaiahh Loudermilk in his third NFL training camp and preseason than what we saw from him this year. At this point, it's safe to assume that he's not going to be the next Stephon Tuitt and he's unlikely to be a future starter. At the same time, I do think that Loudermilk still has more to offer.

It's important to remember that Loudermilk was a bit of a project, to begin with. At his Wisconsin Pro Day in 2021, the nearly 6'7'' defensive lineman weight in at a lean 274 pounds. We knew that it was going to take time for him to add the muscle mass needed to hold up as a '5-technique' and '4i' defensive lineman for the Steelers.

The good thing is that he has made progress in this regard. Loudermilk has added significant bulk over the past two offseasons and now finally looks the part of a player ready to take the next step in his development. In terms of pass-rush ability, Loudermilk is never going to offer a whole lot, but there's still a chance he could be the player Pittsburgh drafted him to be.

With older interior defenders struggling much worse this preseason, there's plenty of incentive to keep Loudermilk around for one more year and see what happens. The young defender knows what's on the line in year three, and the Steelers need to be a bit more patient. They spent all this time transforming this player into the base 3-4 defensive end they need, so Mike Tomlin needs to give him one more year to see what he can offer in the DL rotation in Pittsburgh.