Steelers' Rookie Could Be Forced Onto Injured Reserve So All 4 Quarterbacks Stay On The Roster

The Pittsburgh Steelers are not expecting a lot of production out of their rookies in 2026, as the only one who is even tabbed to be a starter outside of special teams is the fifth-round fullback, Riley Nowakowski. The plan is for this to be a key developmental year for these newcomers so when the Steelers transition to a new quarterback in 2027, the team is already built up around him. The depth of the team is already excellent, and that makes life much easier on Pittsburgh, especially when addressing potential needs in the future. 

There has been a lot of good news coming out of training camp from the Steelers on that front, but even the bad news typically is not that bad. Sure, guys like Gennings Dunker and Kaden Wetjen have not particularly performed well, but they have time to grow and become the key players that Pittsburgh expected when selecting them. They can still become stars with enough time and quality coaching.

Injuries are starting to pile up, however, as three rookies either missed Wednesday's practice or left early. While making an appearance on Steel City Insider, Jim Wexell explained how this could affect one of these players.

"Gennings Dunker left practice [on Wednesday] with an injury," Wexell said. "The guess is a hamstring, and he came back a few minutes later without pads and was walking fine, so I don't know that it's a big injury... He could be a guy -- either they put him on IR [Injured Reserve] or before the cut down, they keep him on IR, cut someone like [Ryan] McCollum... You could tell me where I'm wrong in this equation, but there are ways they can keep four quarterbacks."

The fact that he's walking fine despite this little injury is a good sign. Hamstring injuries can be very finicky, so if that is the case, it would not be shocking to see Pittsburgh be cautious with him throughout the preseason and the rest of the practices going into the regular season. Hopefully, this is as minor as it appears to be, so he can get back to working on his game, although Wexell doesn't see it like that.

Wexell has been adamant that the Steelers have already decided that they will keep four quarterbacks on the Week 1 roster. With how great the depth on the team is, it would be hard for them to release anyone just to make sure that both Mason Rudolph and Will Howard don't get exposed so other teams can sign either one of them. IR seems like a logical solution in this case.

Dunker would be the one who loses in this scenario. Even if he's healthy, he can't practice if he's on IR. He would have to just sit and wait for someone else to get injured so he can be allowed to practice again. If he does have a hamstring injury as Wexell said, keeping him on IR could be justified with how much rest and recovery is needed to get a player back to 100%, so he'd be perfectly fine.

Steelers Tried This Stunt Already

In 2025, the Steelers didn't want to cut any of their quarterbacks. They initially kept all four through roster cutdown day, but shortly after, they put Howard on IR. He was not put on the Designated to Return list until Skylar Thompson suffered a season-ending injury. He was not even put on the 53-man roster until Week 11.

That likely hurt Howard's development, as he had to spend nearly half the season taking mental reps. Now, it seems like he might be losing the chance to battle for the backup spot, with Rudolph taking a strong hold of the QB2 role. He's just trying to prove his worth at this point while he looks to take that next step forward in his development, despite Drew Allar being right on his heels.

What do you think about Dunker possibly going on IR so the Steelers can keep four quarterbacks? Let us know on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.

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