No. 4 QB Chris Oladokun among 5 Steelers cuts

Chris Adamski
Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022 4:32 p.m. | Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022 4:32 p.m.

Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Chris Oladokun (No. 5) stands to the side while going through drills with the team’s other three quarterbacks during an organized team activities session in May. A seventh-round pick, Oladokun was cut Tuesday.

The Pittsburgh Steelers shed themselves of a quarterback — one who they never really bothered to watch play.

Chris Oladokun was among five cuts by the Steelers announced just before Tuesday’s 4 p.m. NFL deadline to reduce preseason rosters to 80. A seventh-round pick out of South Dakota State who will go down as longtime general manager Kevin Colbert’s final draft choice, Oladokun was the third quarterback the Steelers acquired this offseason in the wake of Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement. With fifth-year backup Mason Rudolph returning for a team that only keeps three QBs, Oladokun was facing an uphill battle from the start.

Oladokun did not play in either of the Steelers’ first two preseason games, and he rarely took reps during team drills at practice.

Free-agent signee Mitch Trubisky, first-round pick Kenny Pickett and Rudolph remain on the roster at quarterback headed into the final preseason game Sunday at home against the Detroit Lions.

• Like his predecessor at Samford, QB Chris Oladokun not ducking challenge of earning roster spot with Steelers
• Productive in college, rookie RBs Jaylen Warren, Mataeo Durant jockey to stick with Steelers

Also in the Steelers’ second round of cuts Tuesday were outside linebacker Genard Avery, wide receiver Christian Blake, running back Mataeo Durant and kicker Nick Sciba.

Avery is the biggest surprise of that group because he was signed as an unrestricted free agent in March after he’d started 12 games for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2021. The Steelers even gave Avery a modest signing bonus, suggesting they saw him as a top backup for starters T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith.

Sciba is the NCAA’s career record-holder for field-goal percentage but never had an opportunity to unseat Chris Boswell as the Steelers kicker. Durant quickly fell well behind fellow undrafted rookie Jaylen Warren on the running back depth chart, and Blake was signed less than two weeks after injuries had afflicted the Steelers wide receivers corps.

Next week, the roster will be cut down to its regular-season standard 53 players.

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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.