Steelers 2-a-days: Derwin Gray, Greg Gilmore have talent but are in crowded position rooms
Editor’s note: From now until the first practice of training camp at Saint Vincent College, the Trib will be running through the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 90-man roster, assessing each player’s outlook for the 2019 season. The breakdown will go through the roster in mostly-alphabetical order, (at least) two per day, between June 14 and July 26.
DL GREG GILMORE
Experience: Spent last summer with Steelers, this past spring with AAF
Contract status: $495,000 cap hit in 2019, under team control for several seasons
2019 outlook: Gilmore was an intriguing prospect heading into last year’s training camp as a 311-pound priority undrafted free agent of high pedigree (starter at LSU, where he’d been highly-recruited). But Gilmore was released the week before the regular season began, and the Steelers declined to put him on the practice squad. Gilmore, though, found new life in the Alliance of American Football. And he showed enough there that the Steelers signed him for Round 2 of trying to impress in Latrobe. Gilmore would seem to have the size and raw talent to stick in the NFL in some capacity, but he faces an uphill battle in doing it with the Steelers, who have an abundance of talent up and down their depth chart along the defensive line.
Greg Gilmore and Montori Hughes combine for a world-eclipsing sack of Aaron Murray pic.twitter.com/MgQvNBO7xC
— Arif Hasan (@ArifHasanNFL) March 10, 2019
OL DERWIN GRAY
Experience: Rookie
Contract status: $521,362 cap hit in 2019, first season of standard rookie four-year contract
2019 outlook: Gray played the premium line position of left tackle in college at Maryland, but judging by summer workouts it seems he caught the Steelers’ eye to make him their seventh-round draft pick by way of his versatility. Gray played at both tackle and both guard spots over the course of organized team activities and minicamp. This is a good sign for his prospects to make the team; the Steelers value their offensive linemen at the bottom of the depth chart to be able to play multiple positions. Though he’s stuck in a deep and talented position group on the Steelers, Gray would seem to be a favorite to end up on the practice squad.
Steelers 7th-round Derwin Gray spends OTAs at 4 positions; left guard this week https://t.co/MWSOHXTWnb via @TribLIVE
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) May 30, 2019
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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.
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