Thanks to Ohio State no longer being on the quarter system, it appears as though first-round draft pick, linebacker Ryan Shazier, won’t miss any of the Pittsburgh Steelers summer OTA practices. One of the Steelers other eight draft picks, however, might not be so lucky.
Being as UCLA still uses the quarter system, linebacker Jordan Zumwalt, the Steelers first of two sixth-round draft picks, might be forced to miss the OTA practices and mandatory mini camp. Mind you, the Steelers have yet to comment on his status since he was drafted, so this is merely speculation on my part. Hopefully we will get confirmation soon.
If indeed Zumwalt is forced to miss the OTA sessions, you can bet that Steelers linebackers coach Keith Butler will have plenty of homework for him over the summer.
So, are any of the Steelers undrafted free agents that were signed at risk of missing the OTAs?
Like UCLA, Stanford still uses the quarters system, but based on a post by defensive end Josh Mauro last June on Twitter, it appears as though he’s already graduated. He was a fifth-year senior player in 2013, so it would make sense that the NFL rule wouldn’t apply to him. Once again, we’ll just have to wait for confirmation from the Steelers.
The Minnesota Vikings appear to be a team that will really get hit hard by the NFL graduation rule as three of their top five draft picks look like they will miss the OTA sessions, according to Ben Goessling of ESPN.com.
I guess we just graduated from college. #StanU class of 2013 @ZERTZ_86 @JustJoshin90 @Huey_85 pic.twitter.com/DMrfQcHHbv
— Ben Gardner (@BennyG49) June 16, 2013
