Former Notre Dame WR Javon McKinley eager to show wares in joining Steelers

Upon being signed Monday, Javon McKinley was new to the Pittsburgh Steelers. But not everyone was new to him.

The team’s leading receiver when Notre Dame most recently advanced to the College Football Playoff in 2020, McKinley was greeted at Saint Vincent by plenty of familiar faces from his Fighting Irish days.

“Yeah, it’s cool to come here and have guys you know because it makes you feel more welcome,” McKinley said before listing the fellow former Golden Domers with whom he again is working with on a daily basis.

“I spent two years with Myles (Boykin), four with Chase (Claypool), and Mike Bertsch, too.”

Bertsch is entering his fourth year as the communications manager for the Steelers. He worked in the media relations office at Notre Dame for 16 years before that. Boykin and Claypool are also wide receivers, meaning a full 25% of the current Steelers wide receivers corps played at Notre Dame.

Unlike Claypool (49th overall, 2020) and Boykin (93rd overall, 2019), McKinley went undrafted when he entered the NFL in 2021. The 6-foot-2, 215-pounder signed with the Detroit Lions and spent all of last season on their practice squad.

Can't draw it up any better.

That's Javon McKinley on the end of a perfect pass from David Blough. @Lions are driving late!

????: #BUFvsDET on @NFLNetwork (or check local listings)
????: https://t.co/EQPwwGojpH pic.twitter.com/wpy9D3MH9J

— NFL (@NFL) August 14, 2021

But he was released in May and remained unsigned until almost a week after all NFL training camps had opened.

“It was kind of a long summer training and everything, so I am very excited to have another opportunity,” McKinley said between workouts Wednesday.

“It was a little tough, but after a lot of communication with my agent, he said there were still teams interested in me, so I just made sure my body was right and my conditioning was right and everything so that whenever I got the shot to make sure I capitalize on that. And it came with Pittsburgh.”

Reps are available, too, because Claypool is not practicing (shoulder injury) and Diontae Johnson wasn’t taking part in team drills while awaiting a contract extension. Blessed with NFL-caliber size (not unlike the 6-4 Claypool and Boykin), McKinley first turned heads nationally with a 102-yard game in an upset of then-No. 1 Clemson in November 2020.

Until that fifth college season, though, McKinley’s career lacked the production commensurate with being a highly recruited talent. McKinley had just 11 catches over his first four college seasons, limited in part by a broken leg in 2017 and an arrest on charges of battery for an on-campus incident in 2018. (The charges ultimately were dropped.)

But perhaps the biggest reason McKinley had to wait for his breakout was that he was on a team that had the likes of Claypool, Boykin and tight ends Cole Kmet (drafted 43rd overall in 2020) and Tommy Tremble (83rd overall in 2021).

With the Steelers, there’s Claypool, Johnson and rookies George Pickens and Calvin Austin III (at least) who likely have roster spots sewn up. That leaves McKinley in an uphill battle to earn a job once the regular season begins.

McKinley said going through the draft process and a year with the Lions has shown him what parts of his game he needs to solidify to become an NFL regular.

“Definitely, the biggest feedback was to just get lower in my breaks, kind of getting in and out of the ball, and I’ve been working on that and still working on that, clean with all the releases, just little minor stuff here and there,” McKinley said. “Overall, I think I am a very good route-runner, and my catch radius I believe is good. The ability to catch the ball in different situations as well (such as) third down and distance, touchdowns and everything like that, I believe I am very capable in situations like that.

“So that’s where I am at. I feel as if there still things I am working on, and I am happy to get the reps and coaching.”

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