History Of Steelers Draft Picks Under Colbert To Make Initial 53-Man Roster, Practice Squad

With two preseason games now remaining on their 2018 preseason schedule, the Pittsburgh Steelers presumably still have several players battling for spots on this years 53-man roster and that includes several of this year’s draft picks. Using Steelers history as a guide, its almost certain that not all of this years seven draft picks will ultimately make the final cut. In fact, you could argue right now that three of this year’s draft picks, running back Jaylen Samuels, safety Marcus Allen and defensive tackle Joshua Frazier, might not be on the team’s 53-man roster when the regular season gets underway.

While we wait to see which of this year’s draft picks ultimately fail to make the Steelers initial 53-man roster, the team does have a long history of signing many of their draft picks immediately to the team’s practice squad after placing them on waivers and them clearing.

Below is table of all of the draft selections the Steelers have made dating back to 2000, which was the first year in Pittsburgh for general manager Kevin Colbert. The first column indicates if the player was on the team’s Week 1 53-man roster, Reserve/Inured or Reserve/PUP list. The second column indicates if the player was immediately signed to the Steelers practice squad following him clearing waivers.

As the table of data shows below, 36 (24.8%) of the Steelers 145 total draft picks from 2000-2017 ultimately failed to make the team’s Week 1 53-man roster. However, 21 of those 36 players were immediately signed to the Steelers practice squad after clearing waivers. Of the 15 players who didn’t get immediately signed to the Steelers practice squad for Week 1, five of them, Ra’Shon Harris (Carolina Panthers), Nathaniel Adibi (Tennessee Titans), LaVar Glover (Cincinnati Bengals), Danny Farmer (Cincinnati Bengals) and Jason Gavadza (Tennessee Titans) were all claimed off waivers by other teams.

It’s worth pointing out that while Doug Worthington was initially signed to the Steelers practice squad following his waiving, he technically didn’t make to Week 1 as the Steelers released him just a few days later to make room for Al Woods.

It’s probably worth pointing out that of the 24 players drafted in the fifth-round by the Steelers since 2000 only six (25%) of them ultimately failed to make the final cut. However, of the 23 players drafted by the Steelers in the seventh-round, only six (26.1%) of them were ultimately kept on the original 53-man roster with three others being placed on the Reserve/Injured to start the regular season.