Five players on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 53-man roster don’t deserve to be there.

Regarding the composition of the Steelers’ final roster, the dust hasn’t quite cleared. Even though they narrowed the field to 53 players on August 27, they still have options. The roster mostly showed what was evident and what many had anticipated. A few unexpected names survived the cutoff point. It is reasonable to expect that, in the time between now and the start of the regular season, Pittsburgh will add one or two players via free agency and waivers. There are a few intriguing names out there that could give the club an improvement.

Those who kind of stumbled onto the roster might see their names removed first. Others on the Steelers’ original 53-man roster were eligible to be kept, including Jaleen Elliott. Jalen Elliott made an incredible recovery from being cut during training camp to being re-signed due to an injury and making it into the roster. As a depth safety, he has been playing some excellent special teams football in the last few preseason games. Elliott would be better served on the practice squad, but he earned a berth with a good finish.

Kyle Allen While it may not be as big of a mistake as some of the others on this list, Kyle Allen didn’t exactly make an impression in the preseason. John Rhys Plumlee might have challenged Allen for the third job if he had received more playing time at quarterback. Allen’s roster slot may become expendable now that the practice squad is permitted under the new emergency quarterback rule. Logan Lee

The Steelers’ decision to retain eight defensive linemen on their 53-man roster came as the biggest surprise. Despite having a difficult preseason, Logan Lee, this year’s sixth-round selection, made the squad. Although they are drawn to his potential, it doesn’t appear like Lee will stay if the team makes some roster additions in the interim leading up to the regular season. McCollum Ryan

Retaining Ryan McCollum just serves to emphasise how severely Pittsburgh’s depth at the centre position is impacted by the Nate Herbig injury. Although McCollum has some NFL experience, if Zach Frazier got hurt, you wouldn’t want to start him in the long run. Ideally, Mason McCormick or Spencer Anderson can fill that depth role, or the team finds an upgrade at the position. Rush Darius

Many believed that this year would see advancements for Cory Trice Jr. and Darius Rush. Only Trice appears to have completed the feat. Rush is the perfect stature for a cornerback, but his play hasn’t allowed him to establish himself as a starter. Rather than relying solely on Rush’s future, the Steelers should be looking for possible upgrades.