Steelers 2-a-days: Chuks Okorafor out to win RT job, rookie CB James Pierre has all the tools

Editor’s note: Leading up to a unique Pittsburgh Steelers training camp staged at Heinz Field this year, the Tribune-Review will be running through the team’s 90-man roster, assessing each player’s outlook for the 2020 season. The breakdown will go through the roster, in mostly alphabetical order, two per day, between June 9 and July 23, a day originally planned to be reporting day for players to camp. (Contract data courtesy spotrac.com)

What are the #Steelers’ plans for Chuks Okorafor for the 2020 season? https://t.co/YIJflvAnT3

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) January 6, 2020

OT CHUKS OKORAFOR

Experience: Third season

Contract status: $953,091 cap hit in 2020, one additional year remaining on contract

2020 outlook: For the second year in a row, Okorafor enters camp locked in competition for the starting right tackle spot. Last year, 16 months after being a third-round pick, Okorafor finished third in a four-way battle at right tackle. He started one game because of injury, but this season he will have to outshine the players he finished behind last season: Matt Feiler and Zach Banner.

Bottom line: The competition is not that simple this time, though, because moving Feiler to left guard could be an option. Okorafor must show he’s a better choice than Banner at right tackle and also that he’s more equipped for playing time than veteran interior lineman Stefan Wisniewski, who is Option B at left guard if the Steelers keep Feiler at tackle. Okorafor could end up with the same role he had as a rookie in 2018: third tackle/tight end duties. There is no shortage of ways in which this could play out.

.@Progressive #NFLDraft Prospect Preview: @FAU_Football CB James Pierre@NFLDraft | #WinningInParadise pic.twitter.com/qoBGnLqRSo

— Stadium (@Stadium) April 22, 2020

CB JAMES PIERRE

Experience: Rookie

Contract status: $613,000 cap hit in 2020, under at least four seasons of team control

2020 outlook: Pierre was recruited by a handful of Power 5 schools and initially committed to Syracuse but did not qualify academically, so he ended up at Florida Atlantic. Pierre bypassed his senior season for the Owls to declare for the draft but went undrafted. At 6-foot-2, 185 pounds and having been timed at the combine at 4.59 seconds in the 40-yard dash, there is plenty of raw clay for the Steelers to mold.

Bottom line: Pierre’s measurables and the three interceptions he had last season caught the Steelers’ eye. But with the roster deep in cornerbacks, it’s difficult to envision Pierre having a shot at the active roster. He’s playing for a practice-squad spot and might have enough potential to attain it.

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