The Pittsburgh Steelers ended the 2019 season much as they did the 2018 season, by allowing their playoff fate slip out of their grasp. Slow starts and slow finishes permeated both campaigns, with strong runs in between. But while the results were the same missing the playoffs, the means were quite different.
Yet again, they find themselves undergoing the exit meeting process earlier than anticipated, which means so are we. But that they still managed to go 8-8 without Ben Roethlisberger, and with the general quality of play that they faced along the way, I suppose things could have been worse.
While we might not know all the details about what goes on between Head Coach Mike Tomlin and his players during these exit meetings, we do know how we would conduct those meetings if they were let up to us. So here are the Depot’s exit meetings for the Steelers’ roster following the 2018 season.
Player: Ralph Webb
Position: RB
Experience: 0 Years
Ralph Webb is actually a player who has been with the Steelers for a bit. Originally undrafted out of Vanderbilt in 2018, he first signed with the New England Patriots, spending the first month of that season on their practice squad. He had a few-week stint on the practice squad of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers later on in the season. The day after the Buccaneers released him, the Steelers added him to their practice squad, on December 4, and he remained there for the rest of the season, signing a futures contract at the end of the year.
The running back suffered an injury during training camp, however, and was waived with an injury designation in early August. After going unclaimed, he reverted to injured reserve, but the team worked out an injury settlement.
Later on, during the season, he was signed to the practice squad once healthy in the middle of November, and he remained there for the rest of the year, once again signing a futures contract. This was days after they signed Kerrith Whyte off of the Chicago Bears’ practice squad, though that was a lateral move as he replaced Tony Brooks-James on the 53-man roster.
By the end of the year, the Steelers had seven running backs between their 53-man roster and practice squad, with Webb and Darrin Hall, a Pitt alum, serving on the practice squad. Both of them were retained at the end of the year on futures contracts.
As for Webb, he is on the smaller side in comparison to the typical backs that the Steelers look for, even if his athleticism wouldn’t jump out at you. According to Alex Kozora, he was doing well in training camp until his injury. Should the team fail to draft a running back, look for him to be in the mix to make the team.
