Steelers add WR Johnny Holton to active roster, release rookie LB Tuzar Skipper

The Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday signed a veteran wide receiver who had recently been released by the Oakland Raiders.

No, not that one.

Veteran receiver and special teams standout Johnny Holton was promoted to the Steelers’ 53-man roster from the practice squad. The speedster could serve as the No. 6 receiver and “gunner” on kickoff and punt coverage.

About 28 hours before their season kicked off, it was one final tweak to their active roster for the Steelers as they prepared for their game at the New England Patriots

Friday, Holton confirmed he caught a “touchdown” pass from Ben Roethlisberger in the practice-opening “Seven Shots” drill, signaling he was getting reps with the first-team offense. Holton has three touchdowns among his 11 career catches over 32 games between 2016-18 for the Raiders.

Johnny Holton was in Atlanta watching his brother play for Alabama when the Steelers cut him this weekend, so he had to wait a day to join the practice squadhttps://t.co/s1X8f0GqGM

— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) September 6, 2019

Holton has 17 touches from scrimmage in his career; six have gone for 29 yards or more. He had catches of 59 and 44 yards among seven touches this preseason for the Steelers.

“I felt like I had an all right preseason,” Holton said Friday, “but I felt like I could have and should have done better on special teams.”

Holton had three special teams tackles (one solo) in the preseason.

Tuzar Skipper was released to make roster space for Holton. The rookie linebacker signed off a May tryout had five sacks in four preseason games to become one of the biggest surprises on the final roster. But with Ola Adeniyi proven healthy this week after his recovery from knee surgery, the Steelers have four outside linebackers.

The Steelers surely will try to sign Skipper to their practice squad after the New England game.

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