The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2024 offseason practices concluded in the middle of June. Next up is the team’s annual training camp, which gets underway in the latter part of July at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe. Ahead of Steelers training camp, we will preview the team’s offseason roster three players at a time as part of a multi-post series. This Steelers roster preview, which includes outlooks for every player, will be done alphabetically by last name to make it easy to follow. This series figures to exceed 90 players this year as the team can carry 91 players in total during the offseason due to the allowance of one international player designation.
The next set of three players we will preview ahead of the Steelers’ 2024 training camp are Thomas Graham Jr., Devery Hamilton and Anderson Hardy.
CB Thomas Graham Jr.: The Steelers signed Graham to a Reserve/Futures contract in January. Previously, Graham, who entered the NFL in 2021 as a sixth-round selection of the Chicago Bears out of Oregon, was with the Cleveland Browns. Last year during the preseason, Graham suffered a significant ankle injury as a member of the Browns, resulting in him spending half of the year on the team’s Reserve/Injured list before being waived from it in late November.
For his NFL career to date, Graham has one start in 11 total games. In the 149 total defensive snaps that he’s played, Graham has registered 19 total tackles, 1 for loss, and 4 passes defensed. He has also logged 79 special teams snaps in his NFL career. Graham has played both outside and in the slot during his limited NFL playing time. Most of his snaps with the Browns in 2022 came in the slot, however.
Outlook: Graham did not log any playing time during the 2023 season due to his ankle injury, so his last meaningful NFL game action came during the 2022 season. As a member of the Steelers this summer, it’s more than likely that he’ll be asked to play in the slot, especially with him measuring in at 5103.
The Steelers have several slot-capable cornerbacks on their roster this offseason, with one of them being veteran CB Cameron Sutton. Additionally, the Steelers signed CB Beanie Bishop Jr. as an undrafted free agent this offseason and he figures to battle for a roster spot as well. Graham does have some position flexibility, so that might help his training camp cause to some degree. Even so, it will be hard for Graham to make the 53-man roster later in the summer, so his best bet at sticking in Pittsburgh might be as a practice squad player.
OT Devery Hamilton: Originally signed by the Las Vegas raiders as an undrafted free agent out of Duke in 2021, Hamilton has seen some limited NFL playing time after first bouncing around on a few practice squads. His last stop was with the New York Giants the last two seasons and logged 39 total regular season offensive snaps with them in 2022.
Hamilton, however, was unemployed last season after being waived with an injury settlement by the Giants after the 2023 preseason ended. During his college years, which began at Stanford in 2016, Hamilton played all over the offensive line. The position he did not play was center. During his final college season at Duke in 2020, Hamilton only played right tackle.
Outlook: In all likelihood, Hamilton will play tackle for the Steelers moving forward into training camp. That was mainly the position he manned during his regular season snaps with the Giants in 2022. He has adequate overall length to play the tackle position as well.
The Steelers selected OT Troy Fautanu in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. His selection came on the heels of the team picking OT Broderick Jones in the first-round of the 2023 NFL Draft. The team also has tackles Dan Moore Jr. and Dylan Cook under contract so that will make it tough for Hamilton to snag a 53-man roster spot this summer. In reality, Hamilton’s best shot at sticking in Pittsburgh after the 2024 preseason ends will likely be as practice squad player.
OL Anderson Hardy: An Appalachian State product, Hardy originally signed with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2023 as an undrafted free agent. After sticking with the Chiefs through the 2023 preseason, Hardy was ultimately waived by the team during the final roster cuts.
Hardy played just 42 offensive snaps for the Chiefs last preseason and all of them came at guard. However, Hardy mostly played left tackle during his numerous college seasons at Appalachian State. During the 2023 pre-draft process, Hardy scored an impressive 9.26 RAS out of a possible 10.00.
Outlook: Hardy lacks ideal NFL tackle length, especially with him possessing just 32-inch arms. Because of that lack of ideal length, Hardy will likely be used extensively at guard by the Steelers during training camp.
All told, Hardy faces a huge uphill battle ahead of him this summer. He failed to latch on to a practice squad last season, and that’s not a great sign for him overall. It’s also not like he logged a lot of playing time last year during the preseason as well. In reality, Hardy will be battling in training camp to make the Steelers 2024 practice squad. It will be quite an accomplishment if he is able to do that.
Previous Posts In This Series:
90 In 30: Steelers 2024 Training Camp Preview Series — Montravius Adams, Kyle Allen, Spencer Anderson
90 In 30: Steelers 2024 Training Camp Preview Series — Grayland Arnold, Calvin Austin III, Anthony Averett
90 In 30: Steelers 2024 Training Camp Preview Series — Kalon Barnes, Tyler Beach, Keeanu Benton
90 In 30: Steelers 2024 Training Camp Preview Series — Beanie Bishop Jr., Chris Boswell, Marquez Callaway
90 In 30: Steelers 2024 Training Camp Preview Series — Jack Colletto, Dylan Cook, Jacob Copeland
90 In 30: Steelers 2024 Training Camp Preview Series — James Daniels, Daijun Edwards, DeShon Elliott
90 In 30: Steelers 2024 Training Camp Preview Series — Justin Fields, Joey Fisher, Dez Fitzpatrick
90 In 30: Steelers 2024 Training Camp Preview Series — Minkah Fitzpatrick, Zach Frazier, Pat Freiermuth
