Steelers 2-a-days: Zach Gentry a developmental success story, Nate Gilliam interior OL depth

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 2022 season. The breakdown will go through the roster in mostly-alphabetical order, two per day, between June 11 and July 25. Contract data courtesy spotrac.com.

TE ZACH GENTRY

Experience: 4th season

Contract status: $1.05 million cap hit in 2022, scheduled for unrestricted free agency this coming spring

2022 outlook: The Steelers have a history of drafting players in the mid-to-late rounds who switched positions late in their college career, the rationale being they can’t exploit the talents of these late bloomers. More often than not, these experiments don’t work out too well (think WRs-turned-CBs Brian Allen and Justin Layne).

Gentry, though, shows why the Steelers shoot their shot. He has the appearance of a success story. Recruited to Michigan as one of the top quarterback prospects in the country, Gentry moved to tight end as a sophomore and became a two-year starter and earned third-team all-Big Ten recognition at the position. That compelled the Steelers to take a fifth-round flier on the 6-foot-8, 265-pound athlete.

Though the payoff wasn’t immediate, by his third NFL season in 2021 Gentry established himself as a regular part of the offense. By last season’s playoff game, he was playing a career-high 59% of the Steelers’ snaps. His four catches during that loss in Kansas City gave Gentry 23 receptions over the season (postseason included) — but it is as a blocker where he has made his biggest strides in becoming an ideal No. 2 to the Steelers’ emerging TE1, Pat Freiermuth.

Zach Gentry has evoked memories of another tall tight end who spent seven of his nine NFL seasons with the #Steelers. https://t.co/fdbrYhiuuD

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) November 7, 2021

OL NATE GILLIAM

Experience: No NFL regular-season experience since entering league as undrafted rookie in 2020

Contract status: $705,000 cap hit if he makes the team in 2022

2022 outlook: Gilliam joined the organization during the final week of last season via the practice squad. He formerly had spent time with the Los Angeles Chargers organization.

The 6-4, 310-pound interior lineman started his final two college seasons at Wake Forest, earning third-team all-ACC recognition as a senior in 2019. Though he’s a longshot to compete for a spot on the 53-man roster, a strong camp would have Gilliam in contention for the practice squad. From there, anything is possible — just ask John Leglue, who last year went from camp-depth unknown to starting the Steelers’ final six games (including playoffs) of the season at guard.

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