The Pittsburgh Steelers acquired defensive lineman Chris Wormley from the Baltimore Ravens in a Friday trade and his addition will hopefully provide solid depth up and down the line in 2019. Wormley must be ecstatic about being traded to the Steelers as they were his favorite team growing up.
“I admired their defense, they had great players, so just admiring them,” Wormley said during his 2017 NFL scouting combine media session about growing up a Steelers fan. “In kindergarten, I went winter coat shopping with my grandpa and I picked out a Steelers coat. I didn’t know what it was, but I liked the design on it. It kind of just stuck with me for a few years and I realized what that team was and what that symbol actually meant and stuck with that team growing up.”
Not long after Wormley found out he was traded to the Steelers on Friday he did a quickly interview with Jordan Strack, Sports Director at WTOL-TV in Toledo. During that interview, Wormley, a Toledo native, talked more about growing up a Steelers fan and what it means for him to now be playing for his favorite childhood NFL team.
“I was a Steelers fan growing up, so, this is definitely, you know, the 12-year-old Chris’s dreams,” Wormley told Strack. “So, that’s pretty cool to think about. But, yeah, a lot of my family members are Steelers fans. A lot of my friends growing up and classmates and things like that. And the city in general, I had a lot of support, you know, going through Michigan and even going to Baltimore, but I can only imagine the support’s going to grow knowing that I’m a Steeler now.”
Way back in 2014 when Wormley was going into his junior season, he got an opportunity to meet Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin at the Michigan pro day and he posted about that experience on his Instagram account along with a picture of the two.
“I had the privilege of meeting my favorite NFL coach today!” Wormley posted on Instagram. “It was great speaking with Coach Tomlin for a few minutes!”
Ahead of the 2017 NFL Draft, Wormley also reportedly had a pre-pro day dinner with Tomlin and Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert. That dinner came just a few weeks after Wormley had and inexpressive showing at the scouting combine. In fact. Wormley was the top-ranked pSPARQ athlete among defensive linemen in the 2017 draft class. His 132.7 pSPARQ number ranks in the 94th percentile of NFL defensive lineman.
Wormley, who ultimately was selected 74th overall by the Ravens in the third-round of the 2017 NFL Draft out of Michigan, has logged just 54 total tackles and 2.5 sacks, and seven passes defensed in his first three seasons in the NFL. He’s played just 969 total defensive snaps to date and that’s not even the equivalent of a full season.
How will the Steelers use Wormley in their defense moving forward? He might be used some as a base defensive tackle because of his ability to play well against the run. Additionally, Wormley almost certainly will be used as depth defensive end/tackle in both base and nickel packages. He’s set to earn a base salary in 2020 of $2.133 million and thus figures to be a weekly active player.
