We haven’t heard too much about Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Cameron Clear since he was signed as an undrafted free agent out of Texas A&M, but during his Wednesday session with the media, offensive coordinator Todd Haley brought his name up out of nowhere when he was asked about some teams in the league seemingly deemphasizing the running the game.
“I think in college you’re seeing a lot of the spread, but at the same time I think there’s enough teams like us that still value a tight end like Heath [Miller] or Matt Spaeth that can block and be an integral part of what you’re doing,” started Haley in an interview on Steelers Nation Radio.
“It’s like this free agent Cameron Clear that we have. I mean he’s a big, good-looking body and had about six catches last year and wasn’t on the field. So it’s just what you value and what you think gives you the best chance to win and I think that as long as we’re all here, we’ll value a big tight end that catch and block.”
Well, that was surprising to hear Clear’s name brought up by Haley unprovoked and perhaps he likes what he’s seen so far out of him during the OTA practices.
Clear, who measured in at the 2015 NFL Scouting Combine at 6053, 277-pounds, only had nine catches during his career at Texas A&M after playing one season at Arizona Western Community College following his dismissal from Tennessee as a result of him being arrested for felony theft.
According to several pre-draft scouting reports, Clear is a better than average special teams player and that portion of his game also bares watching once the Steelers preseason games get underway.
As we sit here in June, it looks like rookie fifth-round draft pick Jesse James is pretty much a lock to make the Steelers final 53 man roster as a third tight end and should that ultimately happen, Clear would likely need to hope that the team decides to keep four if he’s going to make the final cut. However, more than anything else, it looks like he could be a player that winds up making the practice squad if he continues to turn Haley’s head for the remainder of the summer.
Alex Kozora profiled Clear prior to the 2015 NFL Draft and if you missed that scouting report, you can read it here.
