Maurkice Pouncey was officially placed on injured reserve this afternoon with his torn up knee, along with Larry Foote (bicep) and LaRod Stephens-Howling (knee). As such, three roster spots opened up.
First thing's first, Kevin Colbert corrected an obvious error by re-signing Jonathan Dwyer. After going a week without their starting running back for some reason, it became apparent that the ground game wasn't going to go through Isaac Redman. When Redman was shut down against Tennessee, the offense turned to Stephens-Howling, who simply isn't big enough to be a starting tailback. Luckily, Dwyer was still available, and he will resume his role as starting running back immediately.
Also signed was interior lineman Fernando Velasco. Cut by the Titans at the conclusion of this year's training camp, Velasco will seek to fill the hole on the bench now that someone (likely Kelvin Beachum) will be filling in for Pouncey at center. Given how the Titans pushed around the Steelers' front seven on Sunday, perhaps their offensive line is a deeper group and Velasco is a viable NFL player. Unlikely, but hey, we're staying optimistic here.
Curiously, the player signed to fill Foote's roster spot is Shayne Graham. You know, the kicker.
Really.
I haven't seen anything that scares me away from Shaun Suisham, but Graham is apparently the seventh most accuratekicker in history. Mike Vanderjagt was up there too, so take that with a grain of salt. One would think this leaves a tangible hole at the linebacker position, but trajectory of this season notwithstanding, I still think Kevin Colbert knows more than any of us do. Let's hope these are just the tweaks needed to fix what's broken right now, because I think all of Steeler Nation is a little on edge about the near future.
UPDATE: Apparently Shaun Suisham pulled a hamstring in pregame on Sunday. He didn't seem deterred during the game, but it looks like the Steelers are playing it safe by signing Graham in the meantime.
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