Steelers early 53-man projection centers on Will Howard’s QB2 push

With less than a month until the Pittsburgh Steelers report for training camp at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, an early roster projection for the 2026 season tries to answer a central question: who earns the right to be Aaron Rodgers’ primary backup. One of the clearest storylines in the current thinking is that the Steelers want Will Howard to be that QB2, in large part because they have already given him quarterback-2 reps during the offseason program and are looking for him to demonstrate he can stabilize the second-unit passing game.

The projection’s framework is straightforward. If the race for QB2 is close, the Steelers are described as more likely to lean toward the option that best fits their weekly needs, with Howard’s current usage viewed as a tie-breaker. The same reasoning then feeds into what would happen with Rudolph, whose role would become harder to justify if Pittsburgh can keep Howard on the roster. In that scenario, the projection suggests a trade outcome, specifically a pick-swap style deal that would involve sending Rudolph and a sixth-round pick for a fifth-round pick if Pittsburgh believes it can improve its draft position while keeping its quarterback room functional.

Behind the quarterback room, the early roster projection also treats the Steelers’ running back depth as more set than it may look from the outside. The outlook identifies Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle as the “undisputed” top two backs. That matters for a 53-man projection because it reduces uncertainty for the first two spots, leaving the remaining jobs to be won through role fit, availability, and how players handle the practice-to-game transition, particularly in special teams.

From there, the projection narrows the path to the remaining roster spot(s) to players who can contribute immediately. Travis Homer is described as a special teams standout, a factor that would give him a roster advantage because those units can require low-variance execution from the moment the preseason begins. With that expected advantage in place, the projection frames the rest of the running back room as a battle, with Kaleb Johnson and Eli Heidenreich in the mix. In the projection’s view, Heidenreich’s versatility gives him the edge, while Johnson’s inclusion would depend on whether Pittsburgh feels it can extract enough value in a trade.

The same roster logic extends to the wide receiver group. The projection lists six names as safe holds, treating them as the core of the room: DK Metcalf, Michael Pittman, Germie Bernard, Noah Brown, Ben Skowronek, and Kaden Wetjen. That grouping is important in a 53-man exercise because it implies the Steelers have more than one receiver who can be used on offense and in formations where depth matters, while still leaving limited uncertainty on the back end for the remaining wide receiver opening.

Even with the early confidence around the “safe” wideouts, the projection still flags one open door that Pittsburgh is expected to handle with veteran competition. The idea is that the Steelers will likely add a veteran to challenge for the last spot, using training camp and preseason snaps to decide whether the incoming competition is better suited than the younger options already in the building. That approach reflects a common roster-building philosophy for teams that want to avoid overcommitting to players who may be developing but not yet consistent enough for the final roster.

What to watch next is not whether these predictions are correct, but whether the internal timeline supports them. The closer Pittsburgh gets to camp and the preseason, the more meaningful it becomes to see how the quarterback reps are divided, which backfield player gets called on in specific special teams packages, and whether the receiver group’s late competition is solved primarily through camp performance or through an external add. Any shift in those areas would ripple across the projected math for who makes the cut and who becomes trade-eligible.