The Pittsburgh Steelers have now wrapped up their first week of OTA practices of 2019 and it appears as though a few players now have new uniform numbers, according to observations made by K.D. Jones on Twitter that were passed along to us on Thursday.
Rookie tight end Zach Gentry, the Steelers fifth-round draft pick this year, is now wearing No. 81 after initially being issued No. 83, which of course former tight end Heath Miller made famous during his long career in Pittsburgh.
Gentry wasn’t the only 2019 draft pick who changed numbers this week as outside linebacker Sutton Smith, who was selected in the sixth-round, now has a new number as well. Smith, who was originally issued No. 51, is now wearing No. 42. Smith, in case you missed it, got a look at fullback during Thursday’s OTA practice so it will now be interesting to see if he continues to receive some looks on offense throughout the remainder of the offseason in addition to playing linebacker.
Finally, outside linebacker Tuzar Skipper, a rookie undrafted free agent out of Toledo who was signed to the roster after being given a tryout opportunity during the Steelers rookie minicamp a few weekends ago, is now wearing No. 51.
As always, please use caution if you are thinking about buying a jersey of any of the Steelers new players as we could see a few more number changes prior to the start of the 2019 regular season. Currently, Steelers rookie linebacker Devin Bush, the team’s first-round draft pick this year, is the only rookie with an official number.
