Hot rough rolling is a conventional forming process in modern steelmaking practice in which high deformations are applied to a steel slab at high temperatures. Due to the sequence of edge rolling followed by rough rolling, so-called edge and width drop phenomena are observed at the head and tail of the slab. These unwanted effects govern a yield loss and need to be minimized as much as possible. By means of a finite element study this research aims to discover the main influencing parameters on the observed edge and width drop behavior. An overview and comparison of the relative contributions of several edge rolling settings are presented. The net edger roll opening is the most important influencing parameter on edge and width drop behavior. The effect of width and thickness of the slab on the edge drop is less strongly pronounced; only the thickness influences the width drop behavior.