The Steelers kept eight defensive linemen on their initial 53-man roster. That stirred a lot of conversation within Steelers Nation since they normally have kept six on the roster in the past. As I was drafting my annual Former Steelers Around the NFL article, I noticed that there was no standard number of players assigned to position groups throughout the league.
I decided to compare the Steelers’ Week 1 roster against the position groups on other teams just to see if eight defensive linemen deviated significantly from other teams. Every team carries three specialists: a kicker, a punter, and a long snapper.