Joe Rutter stories, Page 120
5 things to watch at Steelers rookie minicamp
Offseason training continues for the Pittsburgh Steelers this weekend when the organization gets its first chance to evaluate its youngest and least experienced players. The team’s annual three-day rookie minicamp begins Friday. Although players will not wear pads and no hitting is permitted, the Steelers will get their first chance...
Steelers cut kicker Matt McCrane, cornerback Jack Tocho
The Pittsburgh Steelers plan to stay true to their word and provide competition for kicker Chris Boswell in training camp this summer. It just won’t involve Matt McCrane. McCrane, who converted all three of his field-goal attempts in the Steelers’ season-finale against Cincinnati, was one of two players waived by...
Tight end Zach Gentry agrees to rookie deal with Steelers
Less than an hour after the Pittsburgh Steelers signed their final sixth-round draft pick, they also got their fifth-rounder under contract. Zach Gentry, a 6-foot-8, 265-pound tight end from Michigan, became the seventh of the team’s nine draft picks to sign. Gentry, the No. 141 overall player drafted, signed the...
Steelers sign 6th-round draft pick Ulysees Gilbert
Ulysees Gilbert, the No. 207 overall pick of the NFL Draft, became the third sixth-round draft pick to sign his four-year rookie contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers. With the signing Thursday of Gilbert and fifth-round Zach Gentry, the Steelers have signed seven of their nine draft choices. Remaining unsigned are...
Steelers WR Diontae Johnson makes Pro Football Focus watch list
Pro Football Focus has high hopes for wide receiver Diontae Johnson in his first season with the Pittsburgh Steelers. This week, the web site included Johnson among the top 10 players to win offensive rookie of the year honors. Johnson was ranked No. 9. Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, drafted...
Jerseys worn by Steelers Hall of Fame alumni up for auction
The Pittsburgh Steelers and Lelands are auctioning off more memorabilia from the team archives, including game-worn jerseys sported by Pro Football Hall of Fame players Lynn Swann, Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Jack Lambert, Jack Ham, Mel Blount and Rod Woodson. The Steelers collection contains 28 items, including cleats and a...
Steelers WR JuJu Smith-Schuster to assist NFL as London academy ‘ambassador’
The NFL is opening an academy in London this year, and Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster will be one of its ambassadors. The NFL Academy, which begins in September, will provide students ages 16-18 the chance to learn professional football while training under the supervision of full-time coaches. The...
Versatile new Steelers receiver Diontae Johnson ‘a natural’
Jason Candle was entering his first game as coach at Toledo when necessity required him to expand the role of freshman wide receiver Diontae Johnson in the 2015 Boca Raton Bowl. Alonzo Russell, Toledo’s top receiving threat who is now with the New York Giants, was ineligible for the first...
Steelers, rookie running back Benny Snell are ‘perfect marriage’
Seven months later, Eddie Gran still regrets not giving the ball to Benny Snell. With an SEC game on the line last October, Kentucky faced a third-and-2 in overtime at the Texas A&M 17. Everyone expected the ball would end up in the belly of Snell, the Wildcats’ bruising running...
Pro day prospects earn NFL rookie minicamp invitations
Six prospects who attended the Cal (Pa.) pro day at Pittsburgh Indoor Sports Arena in Cheswick have earned rookie minicamp tryouts with NFL teams. A seventh player, St. Francis (Pa.) cornerback Jermaine Ponder, signed with the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent. The second annual event, which was run...
Steelers to put individual tickets on sale
Individual tickets for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ eight regular-season and two preseason home games will go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. Ticketmaster will handle the sale of all individual tickets. They will not be sold at the Heinz Field box office. Fans may purchase up to eight tickets per household...
Steelers 6th-rounder Sutton Smith: ‘My path is to fight’
Sutton Smith played football at Northern Illinois like he was a Summa Cum Laude student trying to graduate after only a handful of semesters. He packed a lot of production into a short amount of time. Smith had a combined 29 sacks and 56.5 tackles for loss in his redshirt...
Aliquippa native Dravon Askew-Henry signed by Steelers
Aliquippa native Dravon Askew-Henry, a safety from West Virginia, was one of 10 players that the Pittsburgh Steelers signed as undrafted free agents after the conclusion of the NFL Draft on Saturday. Also signing contracts were punter Ian Berryman (Western Carolina) guard Garrett Brumfield (LSU), defensive end Jay Hayes (Georgia),...
Steelers wrap up busy draft with Day 3 depthVideo
After targeting three perceived areas of weakness — inside linebacker, wide receiver and cornerback — on the first two days of the NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers set about filling in smaller holes Saturday that existed elsewhere on their roster. They came away with six players who will provide depth...
Steelers release inside linebacker Jon Bostic
The Pittsburgh Steelers officially have nothing left from their 2018 free agent class. Linebacker Jon Bostic was given his release Saturday afternoon shortly after the NFL Draft concluded. Bostic was the last of the three free agents signed in the 2018 offseason that remained on the Steelers roster. Safety Morgan...
Steelers conclude draft by taking Maryland OT Derwin Gray
Adding depth on the offensive line, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected Maryland tackle Derwin Gray with their final pick of the NFL Draft on Saturday. Gray was the No. 219 overall player taken. Gray, who is 6-foot-4, 320 pounds, primarily played left tackle for the Terrapins. He started three games as...
Steelers add depth to defense with 3 picks in 6th roundVideo
Three draft picks were held by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round of the NFL Draft on Saturday, and they used all three on defensive players — two from Mid-American Conference schools. With their first pick of the sixth round – No. 175 overall – the Steelers grabbed Sutton...
Tall tight end Zach Gentry goes to Steelers in 5th roundVideo
The Pittsburgh Steelers replaced a tight end they once drafted in the fifth round by drafting another one in the same round Saturday afternoon. Michigan tight end Zach Gentry was taken No. 141 overall by the Steelers. It was the pick the Steelers acquired when they traded wide receiver Antonio...
Steelers add powerful Kentucky RB Benny Snell in 4th roundVideo
The Pittsburgh Steelers added a power runner to their offense when they selected Kentucky’s Benny Snell in the fourth round of the NFL Draft on Saturday. Snell, a 5-foot-10, 224-pound runner, was the No. 122 overall selection. He is the great nephew of Matt Snell, a running back with the...
WVU players go back-to-back for 2nd round in a row
West Virginia players went back to back for the second consecutive round Saturday when the Seattle Seahawks took wide receiver Gary Jennings and the New York Jets selected tight end Trevon Wesco in the fourth round (picks 120 and 121). Jennings, 6-foot-1, 214, enjoyed an outstanding junior season, rising to...
NFL Draft, Day 3: Tight end could be atop wish list for Steelers
General manager Kevin Colbert said the Pittsburgh Steelers’ activity in free agency wouldn’t “preclude” the organization from targeting those positions – inside linebacker, wide receiver and cornerback – in the NFL Draft. And that’s precisely what the Steelers did, trading up to get linebacker Devin Bush in the first round...
Michigan State CB Justin Layne goes to Steelers in 3rd roundVideo
Five minutes after being drafted, Justin Layne already was switching allegiances. Layne, a Cleveland native and the Pittsburgh Steelers’ second pick of the third round Friday night, was redecorating when he talked with reporters on a conference call moments after being selected. “We’re taking all the Browns stuff down right...
Steelers take Toledo WR Diontae Johnson in 3rd roundVideo
Needing a wide receiver to make up for the loss of All-Pro Antonio Brown, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected Toledo wide receiver Diontae Johnson on Friday night with their first pick of the third round. The pick was No. 66 overall in the draft. Johnson, a 5-foot-10, 183-pound receiver who doubled...
Big names left, although Steelers may have to wait to get one
Although the Pittsburgh Steelers traded away their second-round pick Thursday night, they have the next-best thing when the second day of the NFL Draft is held Friday. The Steelers still hold the second pick of the third round, which they obtained in the Antonio Brown trade, and they also have...
Steelers trade up, draft linebacker Devin Bush at No. 10
Moving up 10 spots in the first round, the Pittsburgh Steelers pulled off the first trade of the NFL Draft on Thursday and picked Michigan linebacker Devin Bush with the No. 10 overall selection. The Steelers, who held the No. 20 pick, swapped first-round slots with the Denver Broncos and...
