Steelers Cut Five Including Oladokun, Durant

Story by Yinzer Crazy Contributor Anthony DiCerbo. Follow him on Twitter @SnarfVenom

As is customary during the preseason, each team has to progressively make cuts to their roster to eventually get down to the final 53 that teams operate with during the entirety of the NFL season. 

On August 16th the Steelers had to go from 90 to 85, then on August 23rd, the Steelers had to drop an additional five players to get down to 80. This is the final cutdown before teams have to cut down to 53.

To become roster compliant the Steelers have released five players, including a couple of surprises. Those released to get the roster down to 80 are:

• WR Christian Blake
• QB Chris Oladokun
• RB Mateo Durant
• K Nick Sciba
• LB Genard Avery

Oladokun and Avery are the surprising names to find on the list at this point in time, as there was an opportunity for them to at least stick around for another week. 

In the case of Nick Sciba, his fate was more or less sealed when the Steelers signed Chris Boswell to an extension. His only path to the roster would’ve been an unfortunate injury, and luckily for Steelers fans, Chris Boswell remains in good health. 

Mateo Durant was signed as a UDFA out of Duke and came in with high hopes similar to Jaylen Warren. Unfortunately for Durant, he has been outshined by the other RBs at camp, including Warren. If not for an injury to Master Teague he may not have even made it this far. 

Christian Blake came into camp late as an injury replacement. He saw limited action in both of the Steelers preseason games. He came to the Steelers late into the process, and a talented group of receivers always made his route to the 53 a difficult one to see. 

Chris Oladokun is the first surprise on this list as he was a draft pick this past season. There is a chance that this is not the end of Oladokun's time with the Steelers as this might be an attempt to sneak him through to the practice squad, but that remains to be seen. If this is the end of his time in Pittsburgh it really is an unfortunate use of a draft pick. No preseason reps and only a small handful of camp reps is not the ideal use of a seventh-round pick.

Lastly, and perhaps the most surprising name on this list is Genard Avery. When he was signed it seemed like a low-end solution to add some depth to the outside linebacker group that severely lacks it outside of T.J Watt and Alex Highsmith, but instead, he finds himself off the roster with one preseason game remaining. This likely means that the Steelers will take some combination of the current crop of outside backers onto the 53. With Avery gone that likely means Derek Tuszka makes the roster alongside one of Ron’Dell Carter, Delontae Scott, Hamilcar Rashed Jr., or James Vaughters to make the roster. 

On paper, the decision to release Avery is a puzzling one. There have been instances of players bouncing on and off rosters, so it is possible that he may return, or the team has more faith in the other guys in the room than many originally thought.

The Steelers will take the field for their final preseason game against the Lions on Sunday, August 28th, then the team will have to trim the roster down to the final 53 on August 30th.