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Former 5-star QB Hunter Johnson among reported tryouts at Steelers rookie minicamp | TribLIVE.com
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Former 5-star QB Hunter Johnson among reported tryouts at Steelers rookie minicamp

Chris Adamski
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AP
Hakeem Butler runs a drill during the 2019 NFL combine in Indianapolis. Then an incoming rookie out of Iowa State, Butler was drafted in the fourth round that year but has only two games of NFL experience. After a productive spring season in the XFL, the Pittsburgh Steelers invited him to take part in their rookie minicamp this weekend.

The Duck’s first Pittsburgh flight came at one. A Super Bowl hero’s NFL career began at one, too, as did one for a two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver.

The seven draft picks will draw the headlines when the Pittsburgh Steelers rookie minicamp opens Friday, and for good reason. After all, the high-profile likes of Broderick Jones and Joey Porter Jr. taking the field at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex will represent their first official participation in NFL team drills.

But while the draft picks and undrafted free agent signees will be getting their first work in as professionals, roughly two dozen others who recently finished college careers — or played in a spring league or had failed shots at an NFL contract last year — will be participating in the rookie minicamp on a tryout basis.

Will any become the next Devlin “Duck” Hodges, who started six games as a rookie after earning a contract as a tryout? Or the next Malcolm Butler, the cornerback who needed a tryout to make the New England Patriots’ roster in May 2014 — and nine months later was making the clinching interception to win Super Bowl XLIX?

Maybe among the 2023 Steelers tryouts is another Adam Thielen, the small-college wideout who went the tryout route to make the Minnesota Vikings in 2013 and was second-team AP NFL All Pro by 2017.

The Steelers have yet to release the list of tryouts for their three-day rookie minicamp this weekend, but reports by media outlets or social-media posts by the players themselves or their alma maters have allowed several to leak already.

Among them are some players from local colleges, big and small, as well as some who starred during the XFL season. The biggest name, perhaps, is a quarterback who when coming out of high school was considered one of the most sought-after talents in the country, Hunter Johnson, formerly of Clemson.

A list of the Steelers’ reported rookie invites:

And veterans from the XFL invited to take part:

Hey, Steelers Nation, get the latest news about the Pittsburgh Steelers here.

Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.

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Categories: District College | Duquesne | Sports | Steelers/NFL
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