The late-April draft came and went. So, too, did a Kansas City Chiefs rookie minicamp tryout that Tuzar Skipper attended. And a CFL tryout for the Hamilton TigerCats.

“They said I did pretty good,” Skipper said, referring to TigerCats management. “They were gonna call me back if I didn’t hear anything from the NFL.”

Skipper, a rookie edge rusher from Toledo, heard from the Pittsburgh Steelers. He took part in their rookie minicamp. And he earned an offseason 90-man roster spot.

Three-and-a-half months later, the guy who was bypassed in the draft and by all 32 teams as they filled their roster with undrafted free agents and again by the Chiefs after they saw him in person … that guy has a shot to show enough in the preseason finale to maybe make a season-opening NFL 53-man roster.

Undrafted rookie Tuzar Skipper making most of opportunities with Steelers

(Via @TribLive) https://t.co/EV0ovF3xjT

— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) August 18, 2019

After having a sack during each of the Steelers’ first three preseason games, Skipper is confident he’s shown enough that he won’t be needing to re-connect with the TigerCats in embarking on his professional football career.

He’s proven he belongs, in some form or fashion, in the NFL.

“Absolutely,” Skipper said after Steelers practice this week. “If it’s not here, it’ll be somewhere else. Of course we all want it to be here. I would love it to be here, this is one of the best organizations out of the 32 teams I have been told — I have so far only been to two, but this is definitely the best one I have been to out of the two. But we will see what happens.”

“Seeing what happens” begins Thursday night in Charlotte in the preseason finale against the Carolina Panthers. “Seeing what happens” in this context ends Saturday when the Steelers are required to announce their final training-camp roster cuts.

For a guy who was among the final players added before organized team activities began in the spring, that Skipper is still even considered in the running for a roster spot is a victory in itself.

A rock-solid 6-foot-3 and 246 pounds, going into the Panthers game, Skipper likely slots in as the No. 4 outside linebacker behind starters Bud Dupree and T.J. Watt and veteran reserve Anthony Chickillo — though it should be noted that second-year OLB Ola Adniyi would be fourth but for a meniscus injury.

“Tuzar’s been doing good,” Dupree said. “Tuzar’s big and strong. He’s trying to mimic some of the stuff I do. He’s asking a lot of questions, making sure we play hand-in-hand.”

One of three @ToledoFB players on Steelers camp roster, Pass-rusher Tuzar Skipper out to gain noticehttps://t.co/cxCrqV3W4N

— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) July 15, 2019

Skipper has been among the Steelers leaders in preseason snaps played, an indication the coaches are taking a good hard look at him. But of the 137 plays he’s been on the field for over three games, just three were on special teams.

For a rookie, that’s … odd. For an undrafted one, even moreso. And for a linebacker — a position that typically is required for backups to show up on special teams, it’s almost unheard of.

So, why isn’t Skipper getting any looks on special teams?

“I have no clue. I don’t know,” he said. “I’m pushing to be on special teams. I wanna be on special teams. I can be on special teams. But you know we just play it day by day.

A minute later during an interview session with reporters, Skipper was asked if there was anything else he wants to show that he can do in order to prove he’s earned a roster spot.

“Yeah — that I can play special teams,” Skipper said, with a hearty incredulous laugh. “Definitely, I am a big advocate for special teams, I wanna play special teams, I’m not standing here saying, ‘I don’t wanna play special teams’ — that’s not the case, that’s not the story. I want to play special teams.

“In college, I loved playing special teams. I was on kickoff (coverage); they called me ‘War Daddy’ on kickoffs (because) I used to love running down there and blowing things up. I wanna play special teams.”

It remains to be seen if Skipper will be given the opportunity to Thursday. But Skipper has shown plenty during his 134 defensive snaps — three sacks, a forced fumble, eight solo tackles, 11 tackles overall.

“Any time you get a sack or make a big play, it’s a confidence boost,” Skipper said. “Just in being confident that you can go out there and do your job and you can play with the guys.”

Skipper’s shown that, and he’ll get one more chance to.

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