Now that the 2018 NFL Draft is in the books, and the roster heading into the offseason is close to finalized—though always fluid—it’s time to take stock of where the Pittsburgh Steelers stand. Specifically where Steelers players stand individually based on what we have seen happen over the course of the past few months.
A stock evaluation can take a couple of different approaches and I’ll try to make clear my reasonings. In some cases it will be based on more long-term trends, such as an accumulation of offseason activity. In other instances it will be a direct response to something that just happened. So we can see a player more than once over the course of the summer as we head toward training camp.
Player: Ryan Malleck
Stock Value: Up
Evaluation Type: Minor, Short-Term
Reason: Opportunity, Performance
Ryan Malleck was originally a college free agent out of Virginia Tech in 2016 who signed with the New York Giants. He suffered an injury for them late in the preseason and was ultimately waived injured. He reverted back to their injured reserve list before being released with a settlement.
The Steelers were his second team, signing with them in February of last year, but he didn’t last too long, being released in the middle of May, after they signed Phazahn Odom as an undrafted rookie. He resurfaced less than a month later with the Baltimore Ravens, where he would ultimately spend time on the practice squad.
From there, Malleck eventually made his way to the Houston Texans, where he was called up to the 53-man roster from the practice squad ahead of their game against the Steelers, coincidentally enough. He caught one pass for three yards in that game.
After the Texans used two draft picks on tight ends, they released Malleck at the end of April, and when the Steelers lost promising tight end Jake McGee due to a season-ending injury in May, Pittsburgh had him on their speed dial, signing him in early June.
Chances are that he is probably not going to make a huge push to unseat Xavier Grimble as the Steelers’ third tight end this year, but reports have been positive about his second stint with the Steelers so far. He figures to have a good chance of making the practice squad.
