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The Pittsburgh Steelers are set to kick off against the Atlanta Falcons in their season opener. Head coach Mike McCarthy will usher in a new era of Steelers football with hopes of getting off to a strong start. Pittsburgh will face a Falcons team dealing with significant injuries at both EDGE and quarterback.
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Falcons quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr. have been ruled out. Cooper Rush will make his first start since 2025 after signing with Atlanta on July 29. The Falcons also lost their top two EDGE rushers, leaving their defensive line with limited depth. However, Atlanta has an excellent secondary and strong offensive supporting cast that could help overcome those absences.
Pittsburgh could also be without some interesting names despite entering the game with a relatively clean bill of health. Joey Porter Jr. has been working his way back into football shape and hasn’t been a guarantee to play in Week 1. With that in mind, here is a projection of the Steelers’ inactives for Week 1 against the Falcons:
Projected Inactives
- DL Kevin Jobity Jr.
- QB Will Howard (3rd QB)
- QB Drew Allar
- CB Joey Porter Jr.
- OL Gennings Dunker
- TE Robert Tonyan
Other possibilities: RB Eli Heidenreich, CB Daylen Everette, WR Germie Bernard
With Doneiko Slaughter getting elevated, it feels pretty inevitable that Porter won’t be ready this week. Porter doesn’t have any leverage in his contract negotiations anymore, so this is more than likely a situation where the Steelers need him to be 100% before putting him on the field. Beyond that speculation, nothing is guaranteed.
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Of course, the Steelers will have two quarterbacks inactive, with one serving as the emergency third quarterback. That will likely be Howard since he has received more second-team snaps since OTAs. Barring anything unforeseen, Allar isn’t seeing the field in 2026.
Jobity will likely be the inactive defensive lineman, with Dunker serving as the inactive offensive lineman. The rookies will probably have similar game day roles throughout the season. Things could change, but both players are likely to spend this season developing.
Tonyan was the toughest call. Riley Nowakowski’s ability to play both tight end and fullback makes him the top choice between the two. Next week could be a different story, but this week might be about the Steelers taking advantage of Nowakowski’s versatility, particularly in the red zone.
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This story was originally published September 13, 2026 at 5:00 AM.