The Pittsburgh Steelers won’t begin training camp for a few more weeks, so I thought we would spend this week talking about a few players that many believe will have a decent shot at making the final 53 man roster. Basically, these are players that we cant quite consider locks, but do consider as being on the bubble.
After reading the recap of the player that we highlight, you can cast your vote as to whether or not you think that player will make the final 53 man roster. Each poll will run for three days.
The first player up in this series is second-year linebacker Terence Garvin.
2013 Season Recap:
Garvin beat the odds last season when he made the Steelers 53 man roster out of training camp as an undrafted free agent. Not only that, he was signed after first being invited to the Steelers rookie mini camp for a tryout. While I don’t have the exact numbers, I’m willing to bet that there hasn’t been many players that have managed to take the route that Garvin did as rookies over the course of the last 10 years.
In order to make the final roster last season, Garvin had to impress on special teams during the preseason and he did just that. That carried over into the regular season as the West Virginia product finished second on the team in special teams tackles with 10 of them. He also led the team in special teams snaps as he was a member of the four core return/coverage units.
Garvin did manage to see playing time on defense as a rookie, but his 33 snaps at the inside linebacker position weren’t very memorable ones. That playing time mostly came in passing situations when he would replace Vince Williams in sub packages.
2014 Outlook:
Should Garvin again make the final 53 man roster this year out of training camp, it will be because special teams coach Danny Smith can’t live without him. Offseason reports suggest that Garvin could have his position flexibility tested during training camp this year at outside linebacker, but I wouldn’t expect to see him get many snaps outside during the preseason. Garvin’s best fit on defensae as a backup is at the mack linebacker position and he figures to do battle in camp against Sean Spence and rookie Jordan Zumwalt.
Vote below and tell us the reason why you voted the way that you did in the comments below.
You can view the results here.
