Every week, ahead of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ games, Steel City Underground will analyze the depth chart, injury reports, and key matchups against their upcoming opponent in order to point out “The 5” – Steelers players to watch.

The Pittsburgh Steelers open the 2022 NFL preseason at the newly named Acrisure Stadium this Saturday, August 13th.

With training camp at Saint Vincent’s College in Latrobe, PA winding down to its final days, all attention now turns to “real” game action, as the Seattle Seahawks travel into town to provide the opposition.

With a number of camp battles headlining this offseason, these preseason games could have a major impact on the future of several players. Whether you are betting on the Steelers or another NFL team, winning in the long run is better than winning right now.

The Steelers understand this fact.

While in years past, name brand starters would typically sit and watching from the sidelines, the Steelers may not have the same luxury as they sort out their quarterback competition, among others, with a shortened three-game preseason slate.

So what players should fans have their attention turned towards? Here’s a list of my top five that Steelers Nation should keep an eye on during the game.

While all eyes are firmly fixed on Steelers free agent addition Mitchell Trubisky and first round draft pick Kenny Pickett, the key to what’s really going on with either of those players rests in Mason Rudolph’s performance. Actually, what those two do make what happens with Rudolph even more interesting!

Rudolph, who has had a great training camp thus far, has seen some “first team” reps but has also traded some “second team” work with the Steelers rookie QB from Pitt.

How the snap count plays out on Saturday should tip the cap toward the Steelers future plans. If Rudolph alternates in with Trubisky to play with any starters, that would indicate he has a legitimate shot at winning the starting job.

If he cedes way to Pickett, it means that he is all but relegated to backup duty for Week 1, should he remain on the roster. It’s still plausible that Pickett could take the backup job, though I believe he’ll at least stick to the 53-man regular season roster.

The Steelers have made it all but abundantly clear that they’re not satisfied with their current running back depth chart.

They initially added Jeremy McNichols to the team, but he suffered a season-ending injury during camp. They’ve hosted other free agent backs such as Jordan Howard, Wayne Gallman, and Jalen Richard. With Najee Harris likely seeing little to no time in this week’s preseason game, after sitting quite a bit in camp as well, it will be Benny Snell‘s time to shine, but how many carries he sees, along with incumbent Anthony McFarland, will be interesting.

Both should give way to Warren, who has been nothing short of a camp phenom this offseason.

Warren has broken off good runs as well as shown a prowess for picking up blitzes in pass protection. Therefore, this game should be a decent audition for him to make the coaching staff forget about bringing in another veteran running back.

Who doesn’t want to see one of the most hyped players of training camp?

Pickens looks like a natural, and has already had some lofty – and unreasonable – expectations placed upon him before ever taking an NFL snap.

The second round pick makes everything look easy, and he could make short work of his opposition on Saturday. As a rookie, he should be in line for a decent number of reps with any of the quarterbacks, and there’s no doubt that offensive coordinator Matt Canada will test him in this environment.

With all of the talk about the rookie quarterback and rookie wide receivers, many folks have forgotten about Leal, who was drafted in the third round of this year’s NFL Draft.

When he was picked, the future of Stephon Tuitt was unknown. Once Tuitt retired, we also learned that Leal had put on some weight to shift over as a possible replacement for Tuitt’s defensive end position… but the Steelers also signed former Browns and Bengals defensive lineman Larry Ogunjobi to do the same.

With Ogunjobi being brought along slowly following recovery from Lisfranc surgery, it’s unlikely we’ll see a lot of snaps from him in Saturday’s game. Mike Tomlin typically runs the defensive unit a little longer than the offense, so we may see a few fresh faces get some decent playing time: Leal should be one of them.

Leal’s been turning heads with his play in camp, but now will be a chance to see him in a true game environment with pads… something fans should be chomping at the bit to see if his level of play is above the “junior varsity” he could be matched against!

Let’s face it: everyone wants to see what the shiny new toy is capable of.

This year’s first round pick ratchets up the hype machine of Steelers Nation who doubles as Pitt Panthers fans for college ball: the university where Pickett made his name.

Several narratives surround Pickett. Fans want to know who Ben Roethlisberger‘s successor will be. There’s also a long looming dark cloud over the organization, and whether the Pickett pick can redeem themselves for passing on another drafting Pitt Panther, Dan Marino, in the 80’s.

If Pickett does well, we’ll hear about it. If he doesn’t, we’ll hear about it!

Regardless, it’s must-see TV for Week 1 of the preseason.

Founder and Head Writer of Steel City Underground. Crusher of trolls. Voice of reason. Can’t decide whether I like the Steelers more than craft beer. Why do I have to choose?

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