These 4 Steelers shouldn't be on the roster amid preseason struggles

For those unfortunate souls who were at the Steelers second preseason game against the New York Jets on Friday night — of which I am one — what we witnessed was not necessarily a football game in itself, but young players trying to perform what they thought professional football should look like. The end result was brutal, a 17-0 Jets win. The only real highlights were Geno Smith's opening touchdown drive — a good sign for New York prior to Week 1 — and a couple of interceptions made by Aaron Glenn's defense on a young QB who couldn't find his footing. We'll get to him later.

The question I asked myself after the Steelers fell to 1-1 on the preseason wasn't who won't make the roster, but who shouldn't? My answers to that question may not reflect what actually occurs. Again, some position groups are deeper than others, meaning the Steelers could be forced to employ players who, on an actual contender, wouldn't make the 53-man cut.

Broderick Jones, Steelers OT

Jones has been abysmal for the better part of two full years now. Injuries haven't helped, and Jones has been asked to switch positions more than once. You can blame Mike Tomlin for Jones' lack of development, or even Omar Khan for taking him in the first place. Jones isn't productive enough to receive regular NFL snaps right now. He's still putting on weight thanks to a neck injury (among other things) that kept him out for most of the offseason. And when Jones is at game weight — and make no mistake, he wouldn't be playing right now if his health were at risk — he's rarely in position and lets EDGE defenders get around him with ease.

The biggest takeaway from Friday night's shutout loss was the quarterback situation, but an even greater concern should be the offensive line. The Steelers have spent far too much draft capital on that group to get these kinds of results. Their depth, especially at the tackle positions, will be tested. It's why Jones isn't going anywhere.

Roman Wilson, Steelers WR

Remember both of those Howard interceptions? Guess who he was throwing to on both of 'em? For all the flack Roman Wilson caught from Aaron Rodgers last season, he spent the offseason working with some trainer who calls himself the 'route god' in hopes of putting together a better sophomore campaign. Rodgers came away impressed, and even invited Wilson to his offseason getaway. Wilson has battled with rookie Germie Bernard for WR3 reps and looked like the clear leader in the clubhouse prior to Friday.

Wilson's routes are often shallow and he doesn't meet the ball, instead waiting for it to reach a tight window. Howard doesn't have that kind of arm strength, and it's why he made a couple of ill-advised throws on Friday, two of which led to interceptions. While I wouldn't go as far as to blame Wilson for Howard's mistakes, he didn't help matters.

Kaleb Johnson, Steelers RB

The Steelers took Johnson in the second round out of Iowa. It was Tomlin's final draft with the team — unbeknownst to him at the time — and Johnson is arguably one of the worst picks he's ever made. The former Hawkeye was perfect for a zone-blocking scheme. Yet, Tomlin chose to employ Johnson in special teams, and after an early-season error that led to a fumble, the rookie rarely saw the field again.

Johnson is the third-string running back on a roster that will probably carry at least three of those. He's battling with Travis Homer, who is a better blocker and special teams player. The odds aren't in Johnson's favor, especially with a new regime that didn't want him in the first place. He showed some flashes on Friday night, but that won't be enough.

Will Howard, Steelers QB

Ugh, where do we start with Howard? The Steelers prospects of finding their next quarterback of the future are so bad that the fanbase put their faith on a sixth-round pick from LAST YEAR, and were unsurprisingly burned. Even Mike McCarthy said he liked what he saw from Howard on tape when he was hired. Every Still Curtain podcast includes at least one Howard question, if not more. It's a must.

The sad truth is he's just not built for this level. He was a winner in college, but doesn't have the speed to be a true dual-threat quarterback in the NFL. Howard's arm strength is also lacking compared to rookie Drew Allar, and certainly that of Rodgers and Mason Rudolph. Howard was never a serious threat for QB2.

A recent report from Gerry Dulac suggests the Steelers will keep both Howard and Allar on the 53-man roster, meaning they'll roll with four quarterbacks to start the season. That...seems like a pretty big mistake, especially given what we saw from Howard on Friday.

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