Early 53-man roster predictions for Pittsburgh Steelers after the NFL Draft

Tight ends (4):

Steelers roster prediction: Pat Freiermuth, Darnell Washington, Connor Heyward, Zach Gentry

Four tight ends seem like an awful lot. We know that the Steelers don't often stray from historic trends, and three tight ends seem to be the magic number for them. However, I think it comes down to a matter of classification.

Pat Freiermuth will be the top receiving tight end on the team, handling the 'move' TE role. Darnell Washington should have no problem surpassing Zach Gentry on the depth chart thanks to his dominant ability as an in-line blocker. He will handle 'Y' tight end duties.

This is where it gets a little sticky. Connor Heyward does make the team in some form or fashion. Because I don't have a true fullback making the team in this early 53-man roster prediction, I'll assume that Heyward will be used like an H-back who could act as the fullback this year with Derek Watt no longer on the team.

If this ends up being the case, there still might be room for Gentry to stick around as an insurance policy at tight end. This will be hard to do if he can't contribute on special teams. The other route the Steelers could go with would be cutting Gentry and keeping a true fullback like UDFA Monte Pottenbaum.